A Slenderman Christmas pt 2
by potosw
Summary: Ellaina is alive and out there somewhere. Slenderman will stop at nothing to find her, even if it means facing things he wishes were long dead.
1. Chapter 1

A/N- Wow! I can't believe how much you all liked the first one. Well, by popular demand, here is the first chapter of part 2. Enjoy. :)

A short woman had been walking through the forest in the hopes of finding her friend, who was presumed dead. The friend's parents had thought she was dead and had even buried a body. The body, however, couldn't have been Ellaina. This short woman knew that her friend was alive and out there somewhere. She had thought that her friend was in the woods due to the stories she had heard about a man who lived in the forest who took people and killed them. Maybe the man hadn't killed Ellaina yet, so maybe she could save her friend.

So, she had had the brilliant idea to explore those woods where this murderer might live and where her friend might have been taken away to. Well, she certainly was regretting that wonderful decision now. She had been calling for Ellaina to come out from hiding, alerting the One that was now holding her captive in tendrils black as night. She continued to stare into the blank face of her captor. There was no face, and it was perhaps this defining feature that scared the woman the most. She had no idea what she was dealing with. Maybe it wasn't a _man _that was killing people in the woods, but this thing. Well, the facelessness of the being before her had been the most terrifying thing about it, until a cold, hypnotic voice entered her mind, _You knew her?_

The woman screamed in fear. What was this thing that continued to hold her captive? And, what was the thing talking about? Realization hit the woman hard in the pit of her stomach. This thing, this monster, knew Ellaina. It was asking her about Ellaina. But, why would it do such a thing? Ellaina had always been making creepy games. Maybe one of the weird video game characters she had made had come to life suddenly. Though, that didn't follow what the world defined as normal. Fictional characters simply didn't come to life. So, the question became, what was this thing, for it certainly wasn't normal.

The Slenderman was starting to become annoyed with this woman who seemed to be deep in her thoughts. Why did humans have to overanalyze everything they came into contact with? It was an irritating concept that usually ended with him killing any human who began wasting his time. He should have just killed this woman, but she perhaps knew something that he didn't. She perhaps knew something that could pull him out of his boredom and monotony that was his life since Ellaina had left him-since he had killed her. Yet, this woman thought the Little One was still alive, so he sadly couldn't quite kill her. This short woman could possibly help in finding the now-missing Ellaina. If only she were more like the missing human, things would be much easier. Unfortunately, this particular human was like all the others: fearful, yet another annoying concept he hated.

_Are you going to answer me, human? _Slenderman asked, trying to attempt to sound at least somewhat civilized. It had been some time since he had bothered talking to humans. Lately, he had simply been killing them. It was his way, after all. How odd it was to go back to being kind to humans. Had he really sunk back into his old ways once Ellaina was gone? She would be ashamed of him. He tried to shake away thoughts of his Little One. He needed to focus on this new woman, who looked as though she were about to die of fright.

The short woman stared into the white face and slowly nodded. "I-I knew Ellaina. She was my friend…from high school." The woman looked around, trying to figure out some way to escape the thing that was in front of her. There was nothing around, excluding a camper who was staring at the scene with a face that screamed abject terror. She wanted to tell the man to run away, but it seemed that the one who was holding her captive already knew about the unfortunate man.

The being in front of the woman looked over his shoulder, seeming to be quite bored. It was just another human that was going to have to be dealt with. How boring this was. He released the woman, ordering her to stay if she knew what was good for her-if only she knew that he had no intention whatsoever of killing her yet. The Slenderman turned to face the camper, who was trembling with fear, unable to move. Why did they make this so easy? With a quick and almost careless move of one of the tendrils, the man was thrown into the air and impaled on one of the top most branches of a near-by tree. What a waste of a life that was. The man hadn't even put up a fight. The Slenderman vaguely wondered if the man had a family. But, why would he think about that? He never cared who he killed or what pain the families would feel. Clearly, Ellaina had brought back some of his long buried human emotions. That could become problematic.

He turned back to face the woman, who was backed against a tree. Upon seeing his attention focused on her once again, the woman screamed and ran. Slendy sighed. This was going to be a very long day, indeed. Did she not know that running from him was utterly fruitless? He would find her where ever she tried to hide. Now, it was only a game. He could let her think she was safe, only for him to find her. It was great sport for him. He had to get his fun somehow was his logic.

The short woman quickly became lost in the maze that was the forest. She did, however, find a small home. She ran inside and tried to find somewhere to hide. Turning around a corner, she bumped into something quite solid, which immediately grabbed her. She looked up, planning to ask for help. The color drained from her face upon seeing who it was that held her in a tight grip. She screamed again.

_Must you keep doing that? _Slendy questioned, releasing her from his grip. Odd, they had ended up back in the house Ellaina had been tortured in. They were actually standing in the room where it had all happened, her blood still staining some parts of the floor. With those bad memories in mind, memories of her screaming in pain and of her calling him a monster, he decided to leave the room, dragging the woman outside along with him. He looked at her now, taking in her appearance. She was much shorter than Ellaina, had brown eyes, and short, black hair. How dull she was compared to Ellaina. Trying not to think about the Little One, he asked the woman, _Who are you, and how is it that you believe Ellaina to be alive?_

"My name is Anne," she replied, only becoming nervous when she saw the entity in front of her tense up. Why would her name have such an impact on him? It seemed that Ellaina had known this thing. Had she told it about her; how she had told her friend she wasn't going to come for Christmas like she had promised? If this thing was somehow connected to Ellaina, it probably wouldn't have taken too well to her likely upsetting Ellaina. "Ellaina was my friend. I had told her I wasn't going to come for Christmas, but I was going to show up, as a surprise. Well, that didn't quite work when I showed up and no one answered the door. A few days later her body showed up. Her parents buried…a body. I don't think it was Ell, though. See, she has this wonky scar on her hand, and the body in the casket didn't have that." Anne explained. How was it that she now felt more comfortable with this thing? Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Ell had befriended it.

_Are you certain of this, human? _The Slenderman replied. He didn't want to get his hopes up only to discover that she truly was dead. He had been certain that her heart had stopped. He didn't like not knowing if his victims, if he could call Ellaina that, were dead or not. The thought that she could be alive filled him with some sort of emotion he couldn't identify. He never paid much attention to what he felt, but Ellaina had reawaken emotions in him.

"Yeah, I am. I've been friends with her for years. Now it's my turn for a question, if you don't mind. Who are you, and how did you know Ell?" Anne answered.

She certainly is more irritating, Slendy thought. _Who I am is of little importance to you, human, but your kind calls me the Slenderman. I kill people, as you have already observed. By the end of this search for Ellaina, you will be dead as well. As for Ellaina she was…a friend, I suppose. _He needn't give any information to this _Anne _about what he felt for Ellaina, about how it nearly killed him when he had _thought _he had taken her life. There were so many things out there that could have taken her. Perhaps if he could move quickly, he could find her before she was actually dead.

Anne sighed. "She's out here somewhere. I know she's alive. Is there any chance that she could somehow be hiding in there woods?" Seeing the Slenderman only shake his head in the negative, Anne stared to the sky above them, as if it would tell her where her friend was. If this Slenderman could provide his help, perhaps they could find Ellaina. Still, there was that disturbing thought in mind that the same one that was willing to help her planned on killing her. What had made Ellaina special enough to warrant him allowing her to live? She didn't know the answer and didn't care at the moment. All she wanted to do was find her friend before it was truly too late. Looking back to where the Slenderman had been standing, she found that he had disappeared. She looked around for some sign of where he could have possibly gone. The only thing left behind of him was a note.

_Stay in Ellaina's home, human. I will come to you when the time is right to try and find her. Be patient, child, for these things take time and any number of entities even worse than I could have taken her. Stay safe, for I would not appreciate it if some other being gets the pleasure of ending the pathetic existence that you call your life._

There was no signature, but there was a map that would lead her out of the woods and to Ellaina's home. It was only upon looking at this map that Anne realized just how lost she was. This Slenderman, who paraded around like he didn't care about humans, still had some humanity left in him. She had to wonder what his history was-where did he come from and how had he come to look the way he did. As she made her way through the trees and to Ellaina's home, she tried to answer these questions which no one held the answers to.


	2. Chapter 2

_A small boy with bright blue eyes and blonde hair was sitting in his room playing with his Tinker Toys in an attempt to build a perfect little house. His mother always commented on how he did such a good job at building things. While the boy did appreciate his mother's praise, it was his father's praise that the boy was always pining after. The father was always so busy with work and rarely said so much as two words to his five-year-old son before heading off to bed. Still, the small boy loved the man that he called father. Every son was suppose to love his father was the boy's constant reasoning. _

_It was a surprise when the father came into the boy's room then and complimented him on the small house that had created. The boy's eyes lit up with pride and he flashed a bright smile, perfect white teeth gleaming in the light from his lamp. It was early in the morning, before the first day of school was going to start. The little boy couldn't sleep due to his excitement over this. The father asked his son if he'd like to come to work with him instead of going to school. The boy really rather would have gone to school, but he never got to spend time with his dad so he had agreed. If he only knew what was to lie ahead of him, perhaps he would have told his dad that he would have rather gone to school. _

Slenderman woke up, sitting straight up. Why had he dreamed about _that_, of all things? Hadn't he destroyed all memories of that? Clearly, he hadn't. Deciding that there would be no sleep gained for the rest of this night, he forced himself to get up. The blanket was placed to next to the scarf and the watch. These little items were the only reminders he had of Ellaina. And thinking of her only made him want to find the woman all the more. She had suffered enough since he had come into contact with her. He knew that he shouldn't care, that it shouldn't bother him, but the fact was that it did. What little humanity that was left in him had connected to the woman. She made him feel normal. She made him feel human. And, of course, there was the little fact that he had feelings for her. Try as he might, he could no longer deny those feelings to himself. He had told her the truth before she had died-before he had killed her. But, he hadn't killed her, right? How had he not sensed that she was still alive? He blamed the raw human emotions that had been running through him at the time.

Shaking his head and trying to deviate from those thoughts, he decided that it was time to pay little Anne a visit. Now in the house that he knew so well, he could only imagine how she would react upon seeing him, sitting casually at the kitchen table. When she did emerge from the guest room to get herself a midnight snack, she didn't notice the entity sitting at the table until she had already sat down across from him.

Anne finally pulled herself to full awareness after taking a bite of a bagel and taking a long drink of coffee. Her eyes opened wide upon seeing who she was sitting across from. She spewed the contents of her mouth out with a scream of fear. How had he gotten inside?! Her thoughts were racing. All of the doors and windows had been locked.

Wiping the offending material from his person, the Slenderman glowered at her. Why was she so incredibly jumpy? He wasn't that scary. Okay, he was, but he liked to think that this woman should have expected him to show up at some point. He had told her that he would.

The woman held out a napkin to the Tall Man, trying to apologize for her actions, begging for him not to kill her. Seeing that he wasn't about to do so and that he merely continued to stare at her in what was perhaps amusement over her fear, Anne sighed. "You know, you really should warn people when you're just going to pop in for a visit."

_Is that so, human? You are going to dictate what I do now? I do not think so. I will come and go as I please, the same way I did with Ellaina. _Slendy replied.

"Oh, I'm sure she liked that," Anne retorted, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I don't understand why she would befriend something like you. Maybe she only did it because of her sick fascination with monsters like you. I can't imagine her liking you as a person. Your attitude is horrible."

Anger flashed through him. Who was this human to insult him, to interpret what Ellaina may have felt for him? This Anne was a no one. She now merely served as a means for him to find the one he was looking for, the one he cared about. He would use her and that was all. Trying to contain his anger and not splatter the rude girl across the closest wall, he replied, _Think what you will, human. Ellaina can explain what happened once we find her. Speaking of, I do believe it is time we start looking for her, don't you? _He grabbed her and the pair was suddenly in the middle of a desert. Why he knew that Ellaina was somewhere in the middle of a desert was a mystery to him. They would find her, though, even if it killed him.

A/N- Hmm, I wonder who will figure out what Slendy's dream was about…


	3. Chapter 3

_The young boy and the father had arrived at a factory out at the very outskirts of their little town, and the blue-eyed boy couldn't be more excited. He had never seen where his dad worked. His mother would never tell him for some unknown reason. Maybe it was because the smart, young boy would have started looking up the place on the Internet. He admired everything about his father, so it was only logical that the father's job would be wonderful._

_As the two drove by an armed guard, who seemed to have quite an interest in the little boy sitting in the backseat of his father's car, the little boy looked up at the large factory. It had a large sign that labeled the factory as GENLAB Industries. The young boy didn't know what could possibly go on in the place, but his dad worked here. It was only logical that whatever went on here was cool. The boy followed his father, who had an almost painful grip around his small arm. The boy didn't complain about it though. He wouldn't want to upset his dad by telling him that he was hurting his son. Once they entered the set of double doors, which required his father's fingerprints to get in, they were met with a tall man with thick glasses and a bald head. He glared down on the small boy before pulling him away from his father, dragging him to a cage which had various, scientific-looking objects pointed at it. _

_The boy cried for his father to help him as he was thrown into this cage. His father did nothing to stop men from chaining him to the insides of the cage. The father only smiled as he made his way over to a panel which held controls for the devices around the cage. As he flipped a switch and the boy screamed in agony, the father only smiled. Everything was going according to his plan…_

"Wake up, Slendy! You're going to wake up the entire hotel if you keep this up. Hey! Do you hear me? Wake up, dude!" Anne was shaking the being that had stayed with her in the hotel room. She had forced him to take them to a hotel and had even made a journey back home-dragging him along-in order to pack a suitcase. That certainly had sparked a violent argument between the two. It ended with Slendy bringing them back to the hotel, all the while detailing how he planned to kill her. He had later fallen asleep at some point during the middle of the night on the small couch that the hotel provided. It certainly didn't look comfortable for him to sleep on considering his imposing size, but he had somehow managed it. She certainly wasn't going to offer the bed to him, so he had made do with what he had.

The Slenderman snapped to full awareness, grabbing the woman that had been trying to wake him from the dream. He looked at her for a long moment before pushing her away, grumbling something about she shouldn't touch him or he'd kill her. Why was he having these dreams again? It had been years since these dreams had plagued him. He simply could not understand why these nightmares had decided to visit him again.

Anne watched over the entity which seemed to be deep in thought. She had woken up to his voice loudly yelling in her head to make this stop or for someone to help him. Those mental cries hadn't been the only thing that had awoken her. The ever-present tendrils had been lashing out at unseen foes and only managed to slap into walls. She could only hope that no one else had been awoken and called the manager.

As if her thoughts could influence Fate, there was a loud knocking at the door with someone yelling that it was the manager of the hotel. Anne slowly made her way to the door, cracking it open part way. She smiled at the man, who was only glaring at her. "What exactly are you doing in here?" the man demanded.

"Sorry," the woman replied while cracking the door just a bit more open. "I was watching an action movie. I guess I just had the volume up a bit too loud." She tried to look convincing, but the man just pushed her aside, saying that he wanted to look in the room. Anne looked around him to find that the Slenderman was gone and any damage he had caused was gone. She gave a sigh of relief, which turned to a gasp when the so-called manager pushed her up against the wall. What he wanted was all too clear when he forced his lips onto her.

_Do you really think that wise, Mr. Manager, _a voice snaked into his mind. He looked around the room, not knowing what was going on. Was this woman some sort of witch? He simply ignored the voice and turned back to the woman, about to kiss her again. He was surprised when something lithe and black covered his mouth and pulled him away from the small woman in one fluid motion. The manager was turned to face Fear itself.

The blank white face seemed to look into his very soul, and what it found appeared to come up wanting. With a tilt of its head, the thing asked, _Do you do this often, harm women this way? Is this something that is enjoyable for you?_

The manager's eyes grew wide upon hearing that strange voice in his head once again. What was this thing, and how had it gotten into the hotel? The woman didn't seem to fear it as she slowly came to stand next to it. She only looked to be apprehensive about what would happen next.

_Answer me, you filthy vassal of the flesh, _the voice demanded harshly in his mind. When the man slowly nodded his head, he had effectively signed his own death certificate. His head was crushed.

"Now, how are we going to convince all the people working in this hotel what happened to the manager? I can't very well walk up to the front desk and tell them that the Slenderman was in my room and killed the guy for trying to-"

_Just shut up, you irritating woman. You could show some gratitude. I could have, I should have, just let that man have his way with you, _Slenderman replied. _You needn't worry about the body. I will convince the workers that their manager never worked here._

"So…you're going to use a Jedi Mind Trick?" Anne asked, smiling at her joke.

Slendy simply stared at her for a long moment. What the devil was a Jedi? Simply deciding not to acknowledge her comment, he took the manager's body and disappeared. The body had to be taken care of. Having someone walk in and find Anne with the manager's dead body certainly would be counterproductive in their attempts to find Ellaina.

Anne was lounging on the couch reading _Othello _when the Slenderman decided to show up again. He didn't say so much as a word to her, only sat down on the edge of the bed and lay back onto it. Convincing the people that their manager had never worked here was harder than he thought it would be. Apparently, Anne wasn't the only person he had ever moved upon. The female workers held much hate for the man, and destroying a memory that someone had a strong emotion like hate connected to was always taxing. It had been done though. No one would ever know what had become of the man. For all intents and purposes, the man had never as much as stepped foot in this hotel.

The woman sighed, closing her novel. All of this had been entertaining, but they really needed to start searching for Ellaina. The Slenderman had said that she was somewhere out in the middle of the desert, so why weren't they searching for her?

_We are not looking for her because the Sun is still out. In case you have not yet noticed, human, I am rather noticeable, _his voice suddenly stated.

"Don't read my thoughts," Anne huffed. She really didn't like this Slenderman. She couldn't explain why though. He was just too different for her tastes. Still, he had saved her so the least she could do was act somewhat grateful. "Look, I want to find Ellaina as much as you do, but you look tired. Plus, what you said is true. Anyone driving through the desert would see you. You're like a big sore thumb." He looked up at her with that comment, not understanding the cliché. "It's just a saying, meaning that you'd be noticeable. So, while the Sun is still shining nice and bright, how about I go looking for Ell while you get some rest? You look like you're tired…."

_As you wish. I have but one request for you._

"And what would that be?"

_Try not to die._

Anne merely stuck her tongue out at him in response before she grabbed her purse and room key to leave. She looked back over her shoulder to see that the Slenderman seemed to be relaxing on the bed, trying to sleep. Isn't he cute? she thought.

_I am NOT cute, _a voice stated very bluntly into her head.

Anne only laughed and bid him sweet dreams as she left the hotel room. She'd leave the Slenderman to the Dream World while she would try to find their mutual friend.

A/N- So, I'll I say is that one of you reviewers is right about Slendy's dreams. It should be a bit clearer now, at least I think, what they consist of. The clues are there. And, yay, Slenderman to the rescue again! Haha. I hope you enjoyed it. More coming soon.


	4. Chapter 4

_The little boy woke up to a new sort of vision. Everything was just a bit too focused and he quickly developed a horrible headache as he looked around. Taking in his surroundings he found that he was no longer in the cage but rather in some sort of holding cell. Thick, iron bars surrounded him on all sides, so there was no way he could escape. As he made himself stand up, he found that he just kept going up and up and up until he hit his head on the ceiling that was some ten feet up. He fell back into a sitting position and went to rub his sore head. It was bald and perfectly smooth._

_The little boy gasped, or he tried to, rather. Something was wrong with his mouth. He went to touch it and found that he had none. His hands desperately searched the rest of his head, searching for those normal human features he was so used to. None of them were there. Looking down on his hands, he found them to be long and skeletal. He looked around with this new vision of his and found a mirror hanging just outside of his cell. The sight that reflected back at him was a monster. He tried to back away, thinking that the monster was standing behind him or something. Then he noticed that the monster moved when he did. Looking into the mirror, he slowly raised his hand to his now nonexistent face. The monster in the mirror did the same. The monster was him. What had he become, and why had his father done this to him? There had to be some reason behind it. His father wouldn't simply experiment on him. Then again, the man had done nothing to try and help him. But, there had to be some reason for this. The boy didn't want to accept that his father had merely used him as a test subject. _

"_You need to wake up, Slendy," a voice suddenly entered his mind. He knew that voice. It was a voice that was beyond this time though. "You need to wake up and come to save me. Keep Anne safe."_

"Come on, it's time to get up!" Someone was poking at his shoulder and repeated in quite an annoying tone that he had to wake up, for she had thought she had found where Ellaina might be. Anne could not understand how Slenderman could sleep so easily and so soundly at any given time. It was really an annoying quality. He needed to wake up.

Slendy simply pushed her aside to stand up, careful not to hit his head on the ceiling. The room was so blasted small. Or, maybe he was just too tall. It was likely the latter. He really needed to find Ellaina. Perhaps finding her would end these dreams, these nightmares. These dreams were not something he exactly enjoyed, and they were only getting worse. At the very least, this Anne had managed to wake him up twice now from those sleeping torments. Whether she knew this or not made little difference to him. He certainly didn't plan on telling her that she had done so. She would likely have a field day with that little fact. The sooner they found Ellaina, the sooner this irritating woman would be out of his hair, well, so to speak.

"Are you listening to me?" Anne asked, poking him again. It could not be that hard for him to follow her conversation. He seemed to be at least somewhat intelligent. He should be able to pay attention to her. She began poking at his sides.

That earned her what she interpreted to be a glare. _Stop that. _Why did she insist upon being so annoying? He had no idea why Ellaina would want to be friends with someone like this. Perhaps she had befriended Anne because the woman could provide some entertainment what with her sometimes ditzy actions. Or, perhaps it was the fact that this woman was the polar opposite of Ellaina. Didn't they say that opposites attract? But, now wasn't he overanalyzing things? He hated it when humans did it and here he was doing the same. He looked at the short woman. _You say that you know where Ellaina is?_

"That's what I've been saying," Anne replied, exasperated. She quickly explained the location of a strange looking underground cavern that was hidden in the middle of the desert. She wasn't entirely sure if Ellaina would be there, but Slendy really didn't care. He took a hold of her, quite unexpectedly, and they were suddenly standing in front of this underground cavern. The large doors closing off this place from the rest of the world were quickly ripped off of their hinges by the Slenderman. All this time, Anne hadn't said a word. She simply stared at the Slenderman's back as he made his way into the cavern, following the path that led deeper and deeper into the Earth. "Be careful," she muttered. She could only hope that Slendy could find and save their friend. As an armed guard made his way toward the entrance of the cave, Anne quickly hid herself. Apparently, she would be seeing some action too.

The path twisted and turned, leading him deeper and deeper into the earth. Eventually he was led to some sort of heavy-set door. Clearly, something important was being held in the room beyond this door. He planned on simply breaking through it, only for it to open of its own accord. He hid away to the shadows as two men exited from it, saying something about it only being a matter of time until something happens. Ignoring their comments, he slipped into the doorway and into the room beyond it before the door had the chance to fully close, before he was noticed. And there, sitting in the middle of this brightly-lit, white room was the target he had been searching for. There was the one he had thought he had killed. There was his Ellaina. She was alive and he couldn't be happier. Had he a mouth, he would likely be smiling like an idiot. At the moment, though, he didn't really care what he looked like or what emotions were running through him. All he wanted to do was save her. Slenderman wanted his Little One back with him at home. Putting it simply, he had missed her.

Someone had entered the room; she knew that much. It was likely just another one of the workers who had come to taunt her by eating in front of her. She was only fed once every three weeks. She was currently on week two. At the very least, the Master provided her with water on a daily basis. It kept her alive, barely. Upon looking up to her visitor, Ellaina was quite surprised by who had shown up. He stood there just at the entrance of the room, seeming to be waiting for her reaction to seeing him here. She could only look at him in disbelief. He couldn't be here. He had thought her dead. That's how it should have stayed! Now, he was in danger from the Master. The Master had always said that the Slenderman would come back to save her…

A/N- Well, you now know what everyone's favorite neighbor hood Slenderman has been dreaming about. Clearly, the past hasn't been kind to him. Poor Slendy. D; Anyway, thanks for the continued support and more chapters will be posted soon.


	5. Chapter 5

Ellaina forced herself to stand. She wanted to simply go to him, to let him take her away from this place. It would be so easy to just fall into his arms and let him carry her away. That wasn't an option, though. The Master had video surveillance in this room. The minute that her constant savior had entered the room, that video feed had likely been disturbed. It would only take a matter of moments for the Master to show up. She had to get him to leave here before the Master had any chance to bring harm to him.

"You need to get out of here," Ellaina stated, taking a step away from him when he tried to come closer to her. "Please, you need to go. It'll keep you safe." She hated doing this to him. The last he had seen of her, she had been dying in his arms. Now, he had finally hunted her down, and all she was doing was trying to stay away from him. It certainly didn't give a good impression.

_Safe? Since when have I worried over my own safety? Ellaina, I won't leave this place without you. I came here to save you, _he replied. He couldn't understand why she was acting this way. He had expected her to be happy to see him. This certainly was not what he had predicted. She was pushing him away. _I thought that you would be happy that I came to save you. _He looked away from her as he was unable to read the emotion in her eyes. Why would she push him away?

She shook her head. This was not something she wanted to do, but she had to get him to leave this place if she wanted him safe from the Master. Ellaina had planned on calling him the one thing that she had promised herself she would never call him again. That was prevented when the Slenderman pulled her into his arms. Thoughts of the Master disappeared. Any internal force she had left that was keeping her from him melted away. It was wonderful to be in those long arms again. Even the tendrils on her back, which seemed to be searching for something, didn't bother her. They only soothed her.

Ellaina looked up at him, her eyes filled with tears. "You didn't kill me, you know. My heart stopped for a while, but it did start back up. That's when the Master found me. He was able to get the poison out of my blood but-" She was interrupted by the sound of a door opening. Her blood ran cold when she saw the Master…if she only could know how Slenderman's seeing of the Master made his blood run even colder and his heart constrict painfully.

The Master smiled at the two. "I told you that he would come. He always was so predictable." This man slowly made his way toward them. He was perhaps in his late forties and was balding. His eyes were a dull grey, but they did hold some sign of his intelligence and madness. He was taller than Ellaina, much taller. He was, of course, short compared to the One that his entire focus was on.

_Stay away from her, _Slendy stated, his voice shaking ever so slightly. He could only hope that neither had heard it as he stepped back as the man approached, pulling Ellaina behind him. She only looked between him and the Master. She had heard that tremble in his voice, but was it from anger or something else? Seeing as he kept backing them up as the man made a slow walk toward them, she had the feeling that Slendy had met this man before.

"So, you finally learned how to speak? How sweet. I am so proud. Aw, upset already over seeing me, boy? Or is it Slenderman now? You did always have a flare for the dramatic. Hmm, I would have thought you would be happy to see me alive. It is of no matter, though, my little escapee. We will finish what we started all those years ago," the man stated while he pulled some sort of device out of his pocket. The Slenderman would have torn the thing out of the man's hands, had the thing not been activated. The device triggered something in the room that set off high frequency electromagnetic fields. This instantly caused pain to shoot through the Slenderman. He should have known that someone would figure out how to harm him some day, how to render him completely useless and powerless. And that person only laughed at him like, as he went to his knees clutching at nonexistent ears in an attempt to make the painful ringing stop. It was a useless effort.

Ellaina was at his side, trying to figure out what was wrong. When the Master had flipped the switch, nothing had happened to her, but it clearly was doing something. Whatever it was, it was beyond her understanding. All she knew was that it was harming her friend and it needed to stop. Yet, she had no control over the Master, who continued to laugh at Slenderman's pain. She could only beg for him to stop, though she doubted that he would stop this anytime soon.

The older man only laughed again. "You can plead with me all you want, but the party has only begun." He turned his attention to the Slenderman, who had forced himself to stand to face this man head on. Blood was trailing down his face from where the normal human features should have been. The Master only smiled. "Well, look at you. You've finally became a man. I am so proud of you, my son."

A/N- Surprise! It's a Luke I am your father moment. Well, sorta. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. There is more to come, but for now we shall remain with this little cliffie. xD


	6. Chapter 6

Ellaina stared between the two. Son? The Master was his father? This man, who was so cruel and twisted, had fathered the Slenderman? Well, she certainly hadn't been expecting that. She didn't even know that he had a father. But, the Master was human, so how was it that he could call himself father of der Ritter? It made no sense. Perhaps he was only playing mind games.

_This man speaks the truth, unfortunately, _Slenderman stated, his gaze never leaving that of the man in front of him. All he had wanted from this man was his love. He wanted nothing more than just to feel accepted by the man. And when his father, if he could even give the man that title, had offered to take him to work, he had jumped at the idea. A day with his father seemed too good to be true. Well, it had been. As a result of going with the man to his job, he had been genetically mutated. He wasn't human; he wasn't monster. What he truly was didn't matter, though he did wonder about it from time to time. He would have his revenge on this man for ruining his chance at a normal life. There had been no one to help him while he grew up looking as he did. He had been forced to become what he was known as today: a murderer. It was the only choice he had had in order to be able to survive. How many had died at his hands because of the experiments he was subject to all those years ago? He didn't know the count, and he'd rather never think about it.

The man smirked, his eyes dancing with some dark emotion. "Well, aren't you looking upset, my Little One?" As he closed his eyes to laugh at this entire situation, he heard a growl of anger in his head before he was thrown up against the wall. That strange voice rang through his mind, telling him never to call him by that title. The trigger fell from his hand, which the woman promptly destroyed. He looked into the nothingness of the One in front of him, who was quickly regaining his strength. The tendrils began snaking around his body and constricting painfully. He smirked, showing no fear like any other victim would. "Are you going to kill me?"

_I would certainly like to, _came the hiss of a reply. He wanted to make this man suffer as badly as he had. He wanted the man to beg for mercy, for the embrace of death, long before it would ever be allowed for. Blood continued its descent down his face. The ringing of conflicting electromagnet fields still in his head. He hated this man above all else. He hated his own father, the one he had only ever wanted to know love from. It had been denied. As a result of this man, he had never known love, outside of those few years he had been with his mother and now Ellaina. He most certainly would make this beast suffer for his actions.

"But, son, don't you want the chance to be human again?" the father asked, mocking in his sincerity. How easy it would be to convince the child to submit to him again. All he need do is dangle the prize in front of his eyes. "It would only take a few tests, and you could be human again. You could live a normal life with your little woman. Perhaps you could even start a family. I would just _love _to be a grandfather." His eyes raked over Ellaina. Turning his head back, he could see the Slenderman shaking his head no. "No? Well, it shall be as you wish, my dear son." He pulled out another trigger from his pocket and pushed the button. Acid began to seep down the walls. "The door is locked, boy. You may be able to survive this particular acid, but your little friend won't be quite as lucky."

Slendy turned his attention now to Ellaina. She was trying to stay away from the walls, only to notice that the acid was now dripping down from the ceiling. Any drop that hit her immediately began to burn the skin away. He looked back to the man. _You will stop this now, or I will kill you._ He was now reminded of the fact that the man in front of him had been holding Ellaina captive for over three months. Lord only knew what he had done to her. His anger flared.

The man only laughed again. "You think I fear death, boy? If that were true, I would never have made you. I knew you'd eventually come to destroy me; it was only a matter of time. I only never expected you to find anyone that would accept you." The one who was once called father found near death with that statement. The one he called son had him wrapped so tightly that it would only take the slightest of movements to kill him.

Ellaina had come to stand next to the pair, uncaring of the acid that was burning her. She had faced Death on numerous occasions. She would likely live through this experience, so she didn't care about her own well-being. That didn't stop Slenderman, however, from pulling her close to him in an attempt to keep some of the acid off of her. She only smiled up at him before turning to face the father of her ever-present protector. "You are such an absolute fool. Why would you ever do this to your own son? He likely loved you. Why do this to him? Answer me!"

"It was my job. They needed a human specimen and I was able to provide one. I thought it would get rid of him. His mother and I had no need for the child," came the reply.

_That is a lie. Mother-_

"She hated you, but her conservative views didn't allow her to abort you when she learned you were growing inside of her. Oh sure, she acted as if she loved you; she praised what few things you could actually do well, but it was out of duty and not love. When she was presented with the chance to be rid of you, she happily took it." The Master replied, sparing no room for how this might upset his son, who was very close to killing him. In his mind everything was already over. His beast of a son was going to kill him and that was that. It wouldn't take much more to push him over the edge. If the boy was going to kill him, he certainly planned to cause him some suffering as well. He continued, "She reveled in the fact that you were gone. Of course, she had no idea what had become of you, at first. When I did explain everything, she laughed and laughed and laughed. So, do you see, boy? You have never had anyone who truly loved you. This woman, this pretty little woman, who stands beside you is only here out of fear that you will kill her if she were not to stay. Think about it. Why would someone as pretty as her want to stay with a monster?"

_Enough! _his voice ripped into the mind of his father. The tendrils removed themselves from his body only to impale him over and over again. Even long after the man's screams died away and all the life force was gone from the man, the Slenderman continued his onslaught, letting out all of the pain that he had endured in his life. The revelation that even his _mother _had hated him was too much for him to stand. It drove him over the edge, making him want nothing more than destroy everything around him. His father's blood was coating his body, hands, tendrils, and face when he felt a light hand on his arm, lightly pulling him away from his destruction.

Ellaina was looking up at him, some of the blood on her own person in addition to the acid. Her eyes held understanding and sadness. "Slendy," she coaxed, "that's enough now. He can't hurt you any longer, I promise. He's dead. Come on, we have to figure a way out of here." She lightly tried to pull him away from the dead body and towards the door. He didn't move, only stayed where he was staring transfixed on the mess that was once a human body.

_I hate him, so why does it cause pain to see him dead? _He questioned quietly. His voice sounded broken to him. There was no strength to it. He felt utterly spent, and if Fate would allow for it he would just lie down and let Death take him to that place of eternal slumber. Of course, that would never happen. Never had he been allowed to enter the realm of peace. Somehow, he always managed to survive situations that would kill any normal human.

"He was still your father," Ellaina answered. "It is only natural to feel some pain over seeing one of your parents die, though for his case I'd be willing to make an exception." She tried to smile at him, but he only stared back for a moment before walking over to the door to try and get them out. He couldn't. The door was reinforced with something that could stand up to even his strength. Planning on just giving up, he was surprised when the door suddenly opened.

Anne stood there on the other side, looking a bit worse for wear and holding a pistol. She took one look at the Slenderman covered in both his own blood and that of the Master's and then to her friend, who quickly exited the room that seemed to be raining down some odd, green liquid. Taking a closer look, Anne discovered there was acid dripping down from the ceiling. She looked between the two, who were now standing with her just outside the passageway to the white room. She commented, "You two look terrible."

"_Shut up Anne!" _both Ellaina and Slenderman stated. Ellaina simply didn't need her friend pointing out the obvious. Slendy simply didn't have any patience left to deal with the short woman. Still, Ellaina was glad to see her friend, so she pulled the other woman into a strong hug. Anne hugged her friend back, ignoring the fact that she was getting covered in blood. She even managed to pull the Slenderman in for a group hug.

He pulled away from them. _As fascinating as this reunion is, we may want to leave this place. There could be others here that would be willing to kill either of you. And, I would rather not be captured for genetic testing or something of the sort. _The two women nodded in agreement and the small trio left the underground caverns as quickly as they could. Anne was thinking how happy she was to have her friend back; Ellaina was happy to be free but also worried about Slendy, and as for der Ritter, he was refusing to allow himself to think. Instead, he forced himself to focus on how long it would take them to get back to the hotel room and if they would make it before sun rise. He hoped that they would be able to return home by the morning. It all depended upon if Ellaina was willing to help heal him, and with his father's last words swirling in his head, he highly doubted it.

They got back to the hotel without an incident. Ellaina had immediately rushed into the bathroom to try and clean herself up. She said something about wanting to look presentable for her two friends. Anne opted for watching television while the Slenderman sat down on the couch. It had been a long day already, and it was only just the beginning.

A/N- Well, Ellaina got saved, but poor Slendy has daddy issues. More chapters will be posted soon. Leave me a review if you'd like to. They make me want to update sooner. ;D


	7. Chapter 7

Anne claimed the restroom as soon as Ellaina stepped out of it. She said that she too wanted to look nice. It was anyone's guess how long the woman would be in the bathroom, showering and primping to be considered presentable by her standards. Slendy simply resigned himself to the fact that he likely wouldn't get the chance to clean up before they had to leave. Today, they were supposed to check out of the room, and check-out was at ten o'clock. They only had two hours left. Ellaina knew that it could take Anne that long to just do her hair. They would be lucky to be able to get of the hotel on time before the management came to kick them out. Too bad she didn't know what had become of the manager of the place.

Ellaina came to sit next to the Slenderman on the couch. She was wearing a dress of Anne's that was a bit too short on her. She tried to force the material to be longer as she sat down next to him. While sitting, the white dress only came up to her mid-thigh. As Slender looked her over, his fingers tracing random patterns across the exposed flesh, he couldn't complain about it. She could only blush under his gaze and touch. She had always dressed in pants and t-shirts around him. Never had she worn something so flimsy in front of him. Well, she considered it to be flimsy, anyway. Anne called it far too conservative. She thought that Ellaina should show off her legs more. Had Slendy known of this sentiment, he would have readily agreed. It would be one of the few things they could agree on. To distract herself, she tried to straighten out his tie and only managed to half choke him.

_You aren't so good at this, my Little One, _he stated, leading her hands with his own as to how to properly realign the tie. It wasn't as if it made any difference, for the tie would only be thrown away when they got home. It was covered in dried blood. He glanced away from her, not bothering to let her hands go, and stared to the bathroom door. Anne was singing, out of tune mind you, to some song he didn't recognize. Then again, he didn't recognize much music. It wasn't like he'd had the chance to enjoy music while growing up. Still, the words were nice enough. "For once in my life I have someone who needs me/Someone I've needed so long/For once, unafraid, I can go where life leads me/And somehow I know I'll be strong."

"She likes old music," Ellaina muttered, picking at a dried lump of blood on his tie. His attention was still focused on Anne, so she cleared her throat. He looked at her now, wondering what she wanted. Without so much as a word, she pulled him into a hug before moving along to start their healing. She knew that this wouldn't heal the mental wounds that the Master had created, but it was the least she could do for him. She could care less if her own wounds were healed. All she cared about was showing this _man _that she did care for him and that nothing his father had said was true.

He could make out her thoughts, as this healing continued. What his father had said was false, according to his Little One. For some unknown reason, she truly cared for him. It was only then that the meaning behind that song of Anne's came to him. For once in his life, he had someone who needed him. He had wanted to be needed for so long, and Ellaina decided she wanted him. He truly could face life, unafraid of what the future may hold. Slendy held her just a little closer upon discovering the meaning of the song, not to mention the fact that they had been apart for so long. All he wanted was to be close to her, if only for a little while. He would stay as long as she wanted him to. He still didn't understand how or when he had fallen for his little human, but he wasn't complaining any longer. He liked the warmth that ran through him when he thought about her in such a way.

Slendy forced himself to pull away from her once the process was finished, holding her out at arm's length, expecting her to do something. He expected her to perhaps get up and leave to find some food, not just sit here with him. He might be able to heal her injuries, but he couldn't magically teleport a meal into her stomach. _You are hungry. Why don't you go get food? You needn't stay here with me._

"Well, I am hungry, but that doesn't mean that I have to go eat right away. When you're only fed once every three weeks, you learn to live without food. I can wait-" Ellaina began, only for her companion to disappear. As she was about to yell to the sky, where she always yelled when he did this to her, he reappeared, holding a Quarter Pounder. She openly stared at him, mouth agape. She looked to the food and then to him again. "You went to McDonalds?!"

_Yes. I even paid for the food. Well, I got cheated on paying for the food. You owe me twenty dollars, my dear. _The Slenderman replied. He certainly preferred this joking atmosphere to the stress that he had been under recently. He could not express it in words how happy he was that Ellaina was alive and with him.

Ellaina only laughed, still quite surprised. Clearly, Slendy cared about her enough if he was willing to venture into a McDonalds. "I can imagine how that situation went down. I can see it on the news: Slenderman spotted in local McDonalds and gets cheated out of twenty dollars when ordering a Quarter Pounder. News on this story at eleven. Now, to Markus Hammurabi with the weather."

_Markus what? Why chose such an odd name?_ Slendy replied, watching her as she opened the small cardboard box to expose the burger. It looked absolutely disgusting, what with the grease dripping off of the thing. Still, humans liked this stuff for some unknown reason.

"Well, in my life, all the weathermen I've seen on television have always had unusual or unique names. I just used the first name that popped into my head," she replied while munching on her meal. The greasy food was bad for the body, she knew, but it tasted so good after not eating in so long. She knew that she should eat slowly to allow her stomach to readjust to such a large meal, but within five minutes, the entire burger was devoured. Feeling a bit self-conscious, Ellaina merely smiled at her companion. She had somehow managed to get ketchup on her nose.

He wiped it away, his hand lingering just a little longer than it needed to. _I did not think that noses were supposed to enjoy meals. _

Ellaina laughed. "Well, normally they don't, but I guess that mine just needed some ketchup to be happy." She smiled as he pulled her into another hug, her head coming to rest on his chest as they lay back onto the couch. She sighed, not caring if the dried blood stained the clothing, not caring what the rest of the day held. She was perfectly content. She would stay like this forever if time would allow for it. Slendy needn't heed his father's words. She loved him. He heard her thoughts and internally sighed with happiness. Things were finally looking up again.

A/N- Fluff, fluff, and more fluff! This should be a nice reprieve for Slendy what with all the stress and angst he's been dealing with. Also, the song Anne was singing was "For Once in my Life." I'm not certain who originally wrote it, but credit goes to that person. If you want to hear the song, go look it up on YouTube. I recommend the duet version of "the great" Tony Bennett and Stevie Wonder"ful".


	8. Chapter 8

_The little boy, well he really wasn't that little anymore, was back in the cage once again not knowing what would be done to him next. He prayed that it would be nothing or, at the very least, that it wouldn't hurt. Whatever had already been done to him certainly didn't seem like it was about to be undone, what with the various scientists who continued to observe him through the cage. There was no way he could beg them to change him back into a nice, little human boy. He wanted to be normal again, be human like them. He didn't need to be caged, he reasoned. He wouldn't hurt anyone even if they were responsible for doing this to him. He wasn't a killer. The very thought of ever ending another human's life made him feel sick. All he wanted was for someone to explain to him what was going on, and maybe for someone to give him something more than a large sheet to cover himself with. There had to be some clothing that could fit him or some could be made. It was bad enough that people were looking at him, but he didn't want ladies to see him so exposed. _

_But, his father had invited him here for the day. Surely by the end of the day what had been done to him would be reversed, right? His dad couldn't very well let him go home looking like a monster; it would scare mother too much, and he certainly didn't want that. Even though his mom was a girl, he loved her with his whole heart. His friends always made fun of him over this, but it was the truth. She was so kind to him. He didn't want to scare anyone, but people kept looking on him with fear. Why? He was in a cage, held down with thick, metal chains. There was no way that he could get out…that he was sure of. Even if he did get out somehow, he would never harm them, willingly. Those faces of fear suddenly meant nothing to him when his father came into view, the only one who did not show any visible signs of fear. The man didn't as much as look at the one that was trapped in the cage. The boy wanted to call out to his father; he wanted to beg his father to turn him back to normal and let him go home. He just wanted to go back home and forget about what had been done to him today. But, he had no mouth. He couldn't ask for help or freedom from this prison. He followed his father's movements, trying to get his attention. If he could only ask his father to help him, maybe this would all be undone. Or, maybe his father was actually planning on reversing the effects of the experiments now. That had to be what he was going to do, the child reasoned. His father wouldn't want to see his son suffer any more. It made sense to the child. The boy had no idea what the very near future held for him. _

_Once again, his father walked over to the panel of controls, not once paying attention to the one in the cage. The boy felt fear crawl into him. He knew what those controls could mean for him. Oh, how he wanted to beg his father not to touch those controls. How he wished he could beg his father not to toy with those controls. With a push of a button and the turn of a knob, one of the instruments surrounding the cage slowly began to lower itself toward the squirming boy inside. As the instrument came down to stab into his back, a sickly black liquid crept through it to enter the child's body. The boy writhed under the effects the chemical brought on._

_Those observing the one inside the cage knew exactly what these chemicals could do to the child, but they did nothing to try and stop it. All of this was being done in the name of science, to test the human genome. Of course, the government had no idea what they were doing .It would go against ethics, some law, or something of the sort. Putting it simply this was not to be on record. _

_The pain was something he could not describe. There were no words to sum up just how badly the feeling of that thick liquid entering his back, his spine, was. He wanted to scream, but the only one who could hear his torment was himself, inside his mind. Still, those things kept stabbing over and over again into his spine; that black liquid kept pumping into him. No one would help him. The men, the women, all of them only continued to stare. There was one man, though, who was looking at him with pain written all over his face. It seemed that the man actually cared. So, as his internal screams became worse with even more of that liquid entering him, the boy kept his focus entirely on the man whose face held compassion for him. The torture was nowhere near to being over. It had only just begun._

Ellaina jolted awake at the sounds of screams coming into her head. Those agonizing screams wouldn't stop, and it took her a moment to realize who it was coming from. She had dozed off in Slendy's embrace, and it appeared that he had done the same. He held her tight to him, hands clenching and unclenching with handfuls of her white dress, tendrils wrapped quite tightly around her waist. What in the name of God was he dreaming about that was causing him such pain? Was there some way that he could be harmed in his sleep that he had never told her about? He had never mentioned anything about this before. She didn't know what was wrong, but that did not mean that she would allow him to continue to suffer this way. She needed to wake him up and soon, she knew, when those screams of torment and pain suddenly became much worse.

A/N- … I will update soon. Please don't hate me! Writing this chapter and the next has been absolutely killing me. D: I wonder who will figure out who the compassionate man is…


	9. Chapter 9

_The boy thought he knew pain when that black liquid had been entering his back. He thought that was the worst pain he could ever feel. He had been wrong, so incredibly wrong. Something, no it was more than one thing, was coming out of his back. The flesh around his back was being violently ripped away to make room for the things that were growing out of his back. Something long, black, and wet came out of his back, covered in his own blood. The thing lay limply beside him, until another one of the black things started to make its way out of his back. The first thing began to tremble with the incredible torment he was feeling. As more of these things came out of him, his screams grew worse while the freed things twitched around at random. Why wouldn't anyone help him? Humans were supposed to care for one another. Wasn't in human nature to help those who were suffering? Even the man with the compassionate face was gone. The pain was only getting worse while his internal screams grew louder. Someone had to stop this. _

"Wake up," Ellaina kept saying over and over again. She had little room to move, as she was now held painfully against him. Whatever he was dreaming about was really causing him pain, and that was hurting her in response. She cared about him; she loved him. He had stopped her suffering on numerous occasions, so it only made sense that she should help him in return. He had awoken her before by somehow entering her dream. She had somehow connected to him at one point when the Master had allowed her to sleep, but she didn't know how she had done it. Even when she had done it, she hadn't known what he had been dreaming about. She was about to try calling out to him again, when he suddenly came to life. He sat up quickly, a gasp screaming out through her head. He pushed her away from him, the throes of the nightmare still holding control over him.

_Oh God, _his voice slipped into her mind, trembling and breathing heavy from the power the nightmare had held over him. Why did he have to dream about that of all things? The pain had seemed so real, like he was experiencing it again. He looked around before setting his elbows on his knees and covering his nonexistent face with his hands; the tendrils hung limply about him. These extra appendages had been the worst part of his entire transformation from human to whatever it was he was now. He still didn't understand how that black liquid had created them. He needed to get himself back under control, but the dream was still so clear in his head. As a flash of the nightmare came through his mind, a tremble ran through his body. He dug his fingers into his flesh, desperately trying to ground himself to the world around him. He couldn't act like this in front of Ellaina. He had to pull himself together. If not for her, then for the chance that Anne could come out of the bathroom and see him so weak. He was the Slenderman, for God's sake. Humans saw him as something to fear; he was a part of their nightmares. A little dream shouldn't be able to hold such control over him, but he could still feel that liquid pumping into him, and he could still see those people observing him. He could still hear his father laughing as he had laid there suffering in a pool of blood and whatever the black liquid had been once the transformation had ended. The thoughts only brought a groan from him, making him dig his fingers deep into his flesh again, drawing fine lines of blood. Couldn't the torment just end already?

When he felt someone place a hand over his own, he immediately pulled away, seeing just for an instant one of the women who had been observing his change. Why would one of them need to be touching him? Shaking his head to clear that image away, he was able to make out Ellaina. She was looking at him with such concern, kneeling at his feet. This little human cared about him. His little human cared about him. He didn't know why she cared. She could be with anyone she wanted, so why had she chosen him, a monster…a genetic experiment? His thoughts only pulled a moan of pain from him. His father had ruined his life and for no reason he could make out. _Why…why did he do this to me? I didn't do anything to him. I loved him. I only wanted his love. Ellaina, why would he ruin my life? Why? _How many times had he asked himself these questions? He could never come up with an answer. It could be that Ellaina held the answers.

She had never seen him like this. She had never seen him show such completely and utterly raw human emotions so openly. He normally gave no indication of what he was feeling, unless it had something to do with a strong emotion. Clearly, the nightmare had caused him to feel more than a few powerful emotions. Slowly Ellaina came to sit next to him, resting a hand on his own which was covering his face. Ellaina pulled the hand away from his face and lightly kissed it. She slowly pulled him to her, enveloping him into a tight hug. When she felt him so easily relax into her embrace and hold onto her tightly with his face buried in her shoulder, Ellaina knew just how badly that dream had affected him. He never submitted so easily to her contact, unless he was experiencing severe emotions. Ellaina began rubbing his back, muttering soft little nothings to try to calm him. Slowly, she answered him, "I don't know why your father would wish to harm you, but he can never harm you again. No one can. I won't let anyone harm you like that again, Slendy."

He only continued to actually cling to her, needing so badly just to have this human contact ground him back to the real world, if only for a moment. Never had he had this. Any time these dreams came to him previously, he had been forced to deal with them on his own. Now, though, he had someone to help him through this pain. But, he didn't want to speak of his past to her. Reliving the nightmares was bad enough. He couldn't bring himself to speak about it. Still, she didn't ask what he had been dreaming about. She wanted to, of that the Slenderman had no doubt, but she was kind enough not to push him for more information. His Little One only continued to hold him and try to calm him, a hand rubbing his back. Why couldn't she have been there to do this for him when it first happened? Her light touch was the medicine he needed to soothe the phantom pain he could still feel so clearly. Slowly, the Slenderman pulled away from her. He shouldn't be doing this. He should never have attached himself to her. _You deserve so much better than me, my Little One. You deserve a human who can show you what love truly is._

Ellaina only shook her head and looked away from him toward the bathroom. Anne was singing once again. "Slendy, I don't want better than you. When you came into my life, you said you would kill me. Instead, you came to love me, and I came to love you. I will not desert you. I won't betray your love like your father did." She turned to face him to find him only staring down at his shoes. She knew that he was deep in his thoughts, probably trying to find some reason for her not to love him. She wanted to say more to him, wanted to tell him that he was everything to her, but she was interrupted.

"Someone looks fabulous!" Anne shouted while coming out of the bathroom, sounding very much like the Jim Carrey version of the Grinch. She smiled at the two who were sitting on the couch, now staring at her. She smiled, as she was completely unaware of what was going on. She spun around, showing off the red dress she had decided to wear.

Slendy slowly pulled himself up from the couch, using a tendril to pull Ellaina along with himself. It was time to go home. He could not stand to remain here for one moment longer. All he wanted to do was get these two home safe, decide if he would let Anne live or not, and return to his own home to try and banish the nightmares from his mind.

Anne took a few steps away from him, knowing full well that he planned to grab her and bring them back home, but she had other plans. "Well, hey, we can't just go home yet. We have other hotel reservations." When the odd pair only openly stared at her, Anne sighed and rolled her eyes. "Geez, you two are slow on the uptake. Ellaina, do you realize that we are only ten miles away from Vegas?! We have to check out the casinos."

Slendy only face palmed. He was definitely going to kill this woman, perhaps even before the chance they got to go home. He would have protested about the gambling idea if it weren't for Ellaina agreeing with her friend. She said that it could be fun for them. And, by them, she unknowingly meant herself and Anne. He certainly couldn't go play slot machines. It might look a little odd for someone to spot the infamous Slenderman playing Blackjack. Still, the two women were more or less begging him to take them there. What choice did he have? He told himself as they suddenly appeared in their new hotel room that he had only taken them here as a way to shut them up. It didn't take long for the women to leave. They headed out to go gamble the day, and likely the night, away. He settled for trying to figure out how the television worked. Maybe he could find something interesting to watch that could take his mind off of the nightmares. It appeared that he was on his own to deal with them, as always.

A/N- I hated writing this chapter, but it is important to the plot. Still, it was so horrible for me to write it, edit it, and reread it. Please, don't hate me too much. I promise to give you fluff in return for this chapter. *goes to write next chapter*


	10. Chapter 10

The two women were making their way back from the casino and to their hotel room. Anne had somehow developed a stomach virus and wanted to simply go and sleep the illness off. Ellaina didn't complain and had happily agreed to accompany her friend. She didn't intend to gamble any more. She had hit a small jackpot of one thousand dollars. She planned to use the money as funding towards upgrading her game. The players would be able to have a graphically enhanced Slenderman kill them. Still, she hadn't uploaded notes to the game in so long. She had likely lost many of her loyal players. Perhaps an update would make up for her lapse. She could only hope.

Anne got the door open and the two came into the room. The television was still on, playing some movie_. _It wasn't so much the television that had captured the women's attention. No, what held their attention was the Slenderman curled up on the bed, sleeping. His suit coat, along with his shirt and tie, had been removed and was now lying over the arm of a near-by chair.

The shorter of the two women nudged her friend. "Who would have thought? Your Slendy has got a rockin' bod. I'm going to need to get me a piece of that."

Ellaina looked to her friend and blinked a few times. "He hates you. I doubt-"

"Ooooh, someone's jealous!" Anne joked.

The taller of the two merely stuck her tongue out at her friend. She sighed, rolling her eyes while looking back at the sleeping Slenderman. At the very least, it didn't look like he was having a nightmare. Still, she didn't like the thought of Anne's eyes roaming over Slendy. She commented, knowing that it would get a desired reaction from her friend, "Aren't you supposed to be sick?"

Anne groaned and turned to run into the bathroom to get sick once again. She would be holed up in the room for God knew how long. That had been Ellaina's plan.

Ellaina slowly made her way toward the sleeping Slenderman. She intended to cover him with a blanket for the hotel room was so cold. She could have just gone to the thermostat to heat up the room, but she had decided to opt for covering him up. She told herself that she did this to stop him from being cold, but in reality she didn't want Anne staring at him again if she decided to leave the bathroom. As she was about to pull the blanket over him, his hand caught hers. She gasped, surprised. She had thought that he was asleep and so had Anne. How much of their exchange had he heard?

_So, I have a rockin' bod? What exactly does that mean? _The Slenderman knew full well what it meant. Odd that he knew what this meant when he didn't know other common things. Maybe he had picked up the phrase from one of the people he had killed in the woods back home. He watched her with a sense of amusement as she tried to find words to explain Anne's comments.

She soon seemed to realize that he was only messing with her. Ellaina stopped her attempt at an explanation and crossed her arms over her chest in exasperation. She sat down on the bed, keeping her back to him in a childish manner. Ellaina could hear him chuckle inside her mind and felt the bed shift as he got up to retrieve his shirt. He didn't bother to button it up as he reclaimed his spot on the bed. Still, she wouldn't look toward him.

_Hmm, are you mad at me, my Little One? _Slendy questioned while a tendril wrapped its way around her waist to pull her to him. Even now, practically in his lap, she still would not look at him. He began trailing his fingertips over her thigh again. _I really do like these dresses Anne is letting you borrow._

That got her attention. She turned around to glare at him. When he only continued with his light touch, she decided to pay him back the service. If he wanted to mess with her, she could very easily do the same. She smiled sweetly at him moving so she was facing him, sitting in his lap. The dress inched its way up her thighs as a result of this movement. He seemed to stare at her in shock for a moment. He most certainly wasn't about to complain about it. This certainly was better than the nightmares. He lightly ran his fingers over the newly exposed flesh. Ellaina laughed to herself, if only he knew what she had planned.

It wasn't like she had any experience in this sort of thing, but she thought that she could manage to figure something out. Anne had certainly spoken enough about how she did this sort of thing. The girl did have an impressive list of past conquests. It was only logical that she had knowledge in this sort of thing, and she had insisted upon teaching Ellaina her techniques. At the time Ellaina had complained about it, but now she was quite happy the knowledge had been imparted onto her.

Slendy had been distracted with her exposed flesh, so he did not expect to suddenly find Ellaina touching him. He looked at her in surprise while her hands trailed odd patterns against his chest. Had he eyes they would be closed while warmth spread through him. He liked this feeling Ellaina was pulling from him. No one had ever touched him like this. Sure, she had hugged him and touched him before, but it had never been like this-not intimate. He didn't want to move. If this was a dream, he would gladly stay in it for the rest of his life.

Ellaina could see that her touch was having the desired effect. She smiled at him as her hands slowly made their way to his back. The places where the tendrils met his back felt odd, but she did not shy away from the odd flesh. Her fingers trailed across his flesh. She heard him shudder and the tendrils began to lead her through his shirt around to some of the more sensitive areas of his back. It was when her lips came to his neck and found a particularly sensitive spot that a moan of pleasure escaped him.

Gods, he hoped this was real or if it were a dream that he wouldn't wake up any time soon. This was so much better than dreaming of his past. He didn't know these feelings, for he had never felt them, but that didn't mean he didn't like them. As he was about to pull her closer to himself and try to return the same feelings she was causing in him, she suddenly pulled away. She rolled off of the bed and began heading toward the door. _What-what are you doing? Come back here._

She smirked. It had worked just like Anne said it would. She replied, "Oh, I just decided that I had to go to the bathroom. Anne is sick in ours."

_Can't it wait?_

Ellaina laughed. Oh, this was delicious. "No, my dear Slenderman, it can't. Besides, you need your sleep and so do I."

_You expect me to sleep now? _Slendy asked, getting up from the bed. He teleported to her side now, not even bothering with walking. He just wanted her to touch him again.

"Yes I do, Mr. Slendy," she replied, staring straight at him, trying to resist the urge to simply return to her actions. Anne had taught her well, though. She was not going to give him what he wanted quite so easily. She had to punish him for being mean earlier, she reminded herself. She turned to leave, only to find herself being pulled back to him.

_Ellaina, _he chided, _you can't just leave now. I-_Slendy paused for a moment, picking up on her thoughts. He looked on her in surprise for a long moment before finally saying: _You're doing all of this just to annoy me for joking with you? _She could not be that cruel.

The woman merely smiled, placing a small kiss to his cheek before turning quickly and fleeing the hotel room. He growled in frustration and went back to the bed. He flopped down on it and stared up at the ceiling. He groaned in annoyance. She was going to pay for this, he internally vowed.

Anne came out of the bathroom. She looked over the Slenderman, his chest only half covered with his white dress shirt. "Why can't you be human?" she whined as she came to sit on her own bed opposite that of the one Slendy was lying on. She pouted, "You are so good looking."

_That may be true, but go to sleep, Anne. I have no patience for your antics at the moment, _Slendy ordered, looking at her in a way that held no room for arguments. If only looks _could _kill, he would no longer have to deal with her annoying behavior. Still, they could not so he was stuck with her. What a pity that was.

"Is your lack of patience a result of that little scene I saw between you and Ellaina?" the woman questioned, completely ignoring Slendy's orders. She figured that he was going to kill her sooner or later, so she may as well have some fun before then.

Slendy glared at her. He was so going to kill this woman the moment he got the chance. Now would be a good a time as any, but he was much too lazy to make himself get up. Odd, before Ellaina came into his life he had never been a lazy bum. He would have to work on that. Still, he didn't like the fact that Anne had been watching his interaction with Ellaina. _I thought you were sick in the bathroom? I wonder what Ellaina will say about this?_

"Meh, she'll likely complain about it for a bit and then get over it." Anne replied.

Slendy shook his head. _You are, by far, the most irritating human I have ever met. I do not understand why I allow you to continue living._

Anne smiled. "It's because you love me."

_Certainly not, _came the quick reply. _Now go to sleep._

"Well, I can't very well go to sleep without hearing a story first," Anne complained.

_A what? You are a grown adult. You do not need to hear a story to go to sleep. _he argued.

"Just tell me a story; otherwise I'll keep talking to you until I fall asleep. Let's see, what to talk about? I could talk about-" Anne began.

_Just shut up. God, I hate you. Fine. You'll get a story. Once upon a time…_

A/N- Teehee, Ellaina is so evil. xD Still, you got to have some fluff. And Anne loves messing with our friendly neighborhood Slenderman. Story time with Slendy…I wonder how that would go? Anyway, there will be more to come.


	11. Chapter 11

_The boy vaguely remembered being dragged from the cage and dropped into his holding cell. He felt too weak to move from where the men had dropped him into a heap on the floor of the cell. He could smell blood in the air; whether it be from his own body or someone else he did not know, nor did he truly care. It was clear to the boy that his father had no intention of changing him back to his human form anytime soon. The boy looked up at the sound of a door opening. The last time he had heard that sound, he had been brought to the cage. Fear ripped through him at the thought that he might be brought back to that place. He weakly moved to the back of his cell, the tendrils-as he had come to call them-wrapping themselves around his body as if to protect him. He had yet to figure out how to control them, but he thought that controlling them might have something to do with his emotions._

_He looked up at the person who had come to stand at the door to the cell. The person was wearing a decidedly feminine-looking mask, but there was no doubt that this person was a man. The mask had high-arched eyebrows, black painted lips, and dark, raccoon-looking circles around the eyes. The boy did not want to trust this masked man, so he only pulled himself closer to the corner of the cell he was trying to hide in when the man opened the door to the cell. The man knelt down before him, offering a hand to him. This certainly couldn't be a good sign. Any time people came to his cell it usually ended with him being harmed in some way, and he certainly didn't want to go through any more pain anytime soon. His back was still killing him. _

_When the child only tried to back away all the more, the man retracted his proffered hand. He reached for the ties to his mask and slowly lowered it, revealing himself to be the man who had looked upon him with compassion during the transformation. "I won't hurt you, Little One. If you want to be free from this place, we must hurry." He placed back on the mask before offering his hand to the boy once more. "My name is James Totheark, child. You can trust me."_

_The boy slowly extended a hand to the man, who immediately pulled him to his feet. The boy still didn't understand how he could change his size, but he accepted it. Even shrunk down he was still taller than this…Totheark. No one had offered him help of any sort. Why would this man want to save him? Couldn't he get in trouble for helping him?_

_As the man led him through various corridors, the one in the mask turned to look onto the One that was once called a human. Why hadn't he told anyone about this? He should have, for now even his own son was at risk for becoming this monster. He had signed his life away to the company the day he had begun working here. They stopped outside a small door. He put in a code which opened the door to reveal a small child, perhaps three years younger than the other once-human boy. _

_The man picked up the child, his son, and offered him out to the tall being. Seeing that the child didn't know what to do, Totheark explained, "They will hurt this boy, my son, just like they have hurt you. I will help you, but I ask that you take him with you in return, to keep him safe. Do you agree to that?" He would never be able to forgive himself if anything were to happen to his son. It would be better to live without the child than to risk him being taken for experimentation. That still didn't make it hurt any less to have to leave the boy._

_He looked from the small boy to the father. The once-human didn't know how to care for a child and he barely knew how to care for himself, but he would not allow anyone to suffer like he had. With a nod of his head, the boy was placed into his waiting arms. The small human in his arms clung to the sheet he used to keep himself covered. The child only looked on him with curiosity. That was refreshing. A tendril came up to caress the little boy's face, which brought a giggle from the small child. Had the once human a mouth, he would be smiling .It was odd how a child was able to bring him some happiness with something as simple as a smile. Then again, it had been a while since he had been happy._

_The masked man nodded to him before giving his son's head one last touch, knowing that he would likely never see the child again. He began leading them through the complex once again. They unfortunately made a wrong turn, coming to a large room that the scientists were meeting in. The masked man quickly turned to head them in the opposite direction, but a shot from one of the armed guards rang out through the room. The once-human child held the now-crying boy closer to him, but it was the sight of his masked savior falling to the ground with a large splotch of red growing from his back that scared and enraged him the most._

"Slendy, please! You need to wake up! You're dreaming again," Ellaina was saying. She had returned to the hotel room to find Anne and him fast asleep. At first it seemed that he hadn't been dreaming, but then she had begun to sense his emotions. He was fearful, sad, and angry. She began to lightly shake his shoulders, all the while begging him to wake up.

A/N- So, did any of you correctly guess how the man with the compassionate face was? Poor Slendy. Why am I so mean to him? But, yay for little Totheark! More chapters to come soon.


	12. Chapter 12

He came back from the Dream World feeling those same emotions he had felt when he knew that Totheark had been killed. Without a thought he immediately grabbed the person who had a hold of his shoulders, flipping them over. He expected to be looking down into the face of one of the scientists but found it only to be Ellaina's shadowed, concerned face looking up at him. He sighed, rolling away from her to settle for lying next to her. The bedside table's clock said it was two in the morning.

"Another dream?" Ellaina questioned quietly. She wished that there was something she could do to try and ease these nightmares, or end them altogether for him. She turned to him, a hand coming to rest on his chest.

He looked at her hand, taking it into his own and leading it to his face, kissing it. Quietly, he replied, "Do you know what I have been dreaming of?" Upon seeing her shake her head no, muttering that she thought it could have something to do with his father, he decided that it was time to share his past with someone. He trusted her well enough.

The Slenderman planned to tell her everything, but that was prevented when he suddenly felt the pull of sleep overtake him. He held no control, try as he might, as another dream came to him.

_Totheark was dead. The only one who had been willing to help him out of this situation was dead because of these cruel people. He saw red as he looked upon the people who were staring at him in utter fear. One of the guards raised his gun to take a shot at the monster, but he was prevented from doing anything as a tendril suddenly shot forward to rip the weapon from the man's hands. The weapon was used to club the man until his skull was caved in._

_The boy didn't plan to kill the man, but he had lost control. His anger was controlling him now as more of the tendrils came out from his back. They began to rip apart not only the men but the women. There was no mercy spared on these people who had caused him such pain and torment. Keeping those thoughts in mind and not the fact that he was taking lives, the child made his way into the room of scientists. None of them survived his rage induced fit._

_He turned back to the sound of a crying child when he had finally killed all of them, excluding his father. The child had been placed out of harm's way when he had made his way to kill the various scientists. He hadn't been able to find his father, but if he ever did find the man, he most certainly would bring the man to a sticky end. It hurt the boy that he had come to hate his father, but he certainly could not love the man any longer._

_But, as the boy approached the crying one, the dreamed memory seemed to change. The little child was suddenly grown and Slendy was suddenly fully aware of everything, dressed in dark suit and tie with full knowledge of his life. He was able to control where the dream went once again. What a relief that was. He looked around, noticing that they were back in the forest, just outside the chain link fence of Ellaina's backyard. Slenderman had taught the boy how to contact him via dreams if the need ever be, so there had to be a good reason why James Totheark Jr. was contacting him. Yes, he had given the boy his father's name. At the time it seemed like the right thing to do._

_The boy, really not a boy as he was only three years younger than Slenderman, seemed to be surprised that he had finally made contact with the being he considered to be like his father. "Finally, I've been trying to contact you for so long. I don't have a lot of time. You have to help me, please. She has me and plans to-no, wait. Wait!" The boy desperately reached toward the Slenderman. "Don't let her take me away. Don't let her kill-"_

The Slenderman suddenly sat bolt upright, trying to reach out to Totheark only to realize that he had come back to the real world. Oh, this was not good. This was not good at all. He was immediately up from the bed, thoughts focused on the boy. His attention turned to Ellaina, who was asking what was going on, what was wrong. _It is time to leave. We need to leave now; do you understand? Get Anne up. We have to go, now. _He was not about to allow someone to take the life of Totheark.

Ellaina was surprised by the way he was acting. He seemed almost desperate to leave this place. He was pacing about the room, looking agitated. "Slendy, what's wrong?" She still hadn't bothered with trying to wake up Anne, who was cuddling a pillow and snoring.

_Damn it, Human. Wake up that blasted friend of yours. We need to leave!_ Slendy replied, his entire focus on needing to leave and save the boy.

Her shoulders dropped. He never addressed her like that any longer. Ellaina was reminded just what little humanity was left in him, but she would still go ahead with what he was asking for. She could only hope that he was speaking out of stress. Ellaina came to her friend's side and began to shake her shoulders. She was much easier to wake than the Slenderman.

Anne looked up at her friend and merely rolled over to look at the clock. It was three in the morning, so why was Ell trying to wake her up? She rubbed at her eyes as Ellaina pulled her out of the bed, explaining that they had to leave. The shorter of the two women began complaining. She had paid for this room for the entire week.

She was surprised to find herself pinned up against the wall by the Slenderman. Ellaina merely stood to the side, looking just as surprised as she. He seemed to be glaring into her very soul. _You will get ready to leave now and stop your complaining, or I will kill you here and now, human._ He released his hold from her to go back to pacing around the room.

"Well, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," Anne muttered while looking around for her things. She began packing up her suitcase when a wave of nausea hit her. She moaned, trying to resist the urge to throw up.

The Slenderman glared at her when she explained that she was going to be sick. As she was about to run into the bathroom, he grabbed her. He did not have time to wait around for her to be sick for Lord knew how long. He simply went about healing her of whatever stomach virus had decided to take up residence in her body. She only stared up at him in shock when he pulled himself away from her. He glowered down upon her and pushed her back toward her suitcase. _I still hate you, Human, but you should not feel sick any longer. Get ready to go._

Anne blinked a few times before heading to go do what he asked. She could not understand how he had healed her, but she wasn't going to complain. Still, it had felt so odd.

Ellaina was simply standing beside the bed, waiting for Anne to get ready. She looked from her friend and then to the Slenderman. He still hadn't bothered to dress properly. When she made mention of this, he immediately began trying to button up his shirt. His hands were shaking so badly that he couldn't manage the process so Ellaina merely took over for him. She looked up at him as she finished with the last button. He hadn't said what was wrong and she was beginning to worry.

He had grabbed the tie and suit coat up from the chair he had discarded the items on. Both were in place without a second thought. They needed to leave, and his need to get to Totheark was only becoming worse. The boy rarely made contact with him through their mental bond unless it was absolutely necessary. Slendy knew that the boy would not joke with him about something like someone endangering his life. He had cared for the boy his entire life, had even somehow managed to put the boy through school. There was no way that he was about to let someone take the child's life. He didn't consider the boy his friend, but more like a son. The thought of the boy being harmed brought pain to him, pain like he felt when he had seen Ellaina harmed.

"Slendy, what's wrong?" Ellaina asked again.

_We need to get home. Are you finished packing yet, Anne?_

"Almost," she replied. Anne only had to find one wayward sock and then she would be done.

"Slenderman," Ellaina tried again, "why do we have to get home? What's so urgent that we need to get there so fast?" She wanted to understand why he seemed so desperate.

_Totheark _was his only explanation. Upon seeing that Anne was finally packed, he grabbed the two women and brought them back home. He could only hope that he wasn't too late.


	13. Chapter 13

The odd trio appeared in Ellaina's family room. While Ellaina was happy to be home, she found it disturbing that there was so much damage in her home. The couch was overturned, the television's screen looked like something had been thrown into it, and paintings were knocked off the walls. To say that there were signs of a struggle was an understatement. It looked like an all out war had been raged in her family room. It appeared that the damage spread through the rest of her house as well, but she was not focused on that now. No, she cared more about helping this Totheark person that Slendy had been in such a rush to get to. Whoever this person was, he clearly was important.

They could hear the sound of someone moaning slightly. Before either of the women took a step toward the sound, they were ordered to stay put as the Slenderman headed in the direction the moans were coming from. The women, of course, didn't plan to listen to him. They were not about to allow him to go into a potentially dangerous situation without some kind of help. First, though, they headed into the kitchen to arm themselves. It too had seen destruction. Broken glass was everywhere. They had to dig through the shards in order to find anything that they could use for weapons. This certainly would take time, as there was so much glass and other things on the floor. Even the refrigerator had been overturned, its contents spilled across the floor.

As Slendy entered the room he knew to be Ellaina's, he came upon a sight that made him stop in his tracks. There was Totheark, pinned to the wall. What looked to be wooden stakes kept him held up to the wall, those stakes being impaled at his wrists and ankles which were caked in dried blood. The boy looked up as he heard someone slowly approaching him. He weakly smiled under the mask, his father's mask. Finally, he was going to be saved. Trying to muster up some of his normal, jovial attitude, he stated, "Hey Slendy. You finally decided to come join the party, huh?"

_I've come to save you, _he replied, missing the joke for he was so focused on wanting to help. The Slenderman came to stand in front of the one he treated like a son. In reality, he should treat him like a brother given their small age difference, but he had raised the boy. The experiments had forced him to grow up quickly, to become a man and father figure for the small boy. Life hadn't been easy on him, but he had tried to make it as easy as he could for young Totheark. He considered that Totheark had come out okay, considering who he had been raised by. He was able to function as a normal member of society and even had a job and owned a small home of his own. That, of course, never stopped the boy from constantly showing up for visits to check up on his "old man." The mask the boy constantly wore was the only thing he had left of his true father, and that had now been stained with blood. He lightly touched the boy's masked face, rubbing away a dried lump of blood. The boy leaned into his touch, glad that he was not being harmed, glad that he would finally be free from torment. Slenderman hated to see him like this, in such pain. Had he not promised the boy's father that he would always keep him safe? Slendy did not intend to break that promise anytime soon. His next move was to remove those stakes from the boy's body, but he was interrupted by someone.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a female voice stated.

Slenderman knew that voice from somewhere, but he could not place it. Still, his attention remained on Totheark. He would not give this woman the time of day. He would soon kill her as soon as he was able to free Totheark from this situation. The boy's eyes were wide with fear as he stared at the woman behind the Slenderman. In an attempt to calm the boy, he brought his hand back to the boy's face to make him look only at him, at that blank face of his. _Focus on me, Little One. I won't let her hurt you any longer, I promise. I always keep my promises, remember? _

The child only nodded, trying to swallow his fear. He knew that he shouldn't fear this woman. In reality, he didn't. What he was more fearful of was what she could do to the Slenderman. She had the ability to enter one's mind and make them remember their worst memories, or she could go as far as to control a person, even. Totheark knew full well that his father figure had many a bad memory. He could only hope that the woman would be killed before she got the chance to harm him.

She continued, ignoring the mental communication Slendy was having with Totheark, "Those stakes that are holding up the little masked freak are laced with a deadly pathogen. You remove them; you kill him. I do have the antidote to the poison though. Now, why don't you turn around and face me like a man, child? You wouldn't want to be rude to your own mother, now would you?"

A/N- Dun, dun, dun! *evil laugh* I'm leaving you with this wonderful cliffie until at least one of you gives me a review…or a cookie, either will work. JK. I'll likely upload the next chapter later today. ;)


	14. Chapter 14

"Mother?" Totheark questioned. Slenderman never made any mention of his family, but he could vaguely remember their first Christmas together when he had briefly seen the woman through a window. Slendy had brought them to his old home, saying that they deserved to at least see a Christmas tree and a real family. At that time Slendy had still thought his mother loved him. He had promised little Totheark that they would go in if his father was not present, but the man had been there. That had upset little Totheark for he had wanted to go inside and get warm and spend Christmas around a Christmas tree. But, his ever present guardian had no choice but to take them away, back home. He had still managed to get the boy a present: Tinker Toys.

Fate cannot be this cruel, the Slenderman thought as he turned away from Totheark to look at the woman. It appeared that Fate enjoyed toying with him, that it had a sick obsession with making him suffer. This woman standing before him was indeed his mother. She was dressed in a long black dress and was far too skinny to be considered healthy. He looked from the woman who had brought him into this world and back to the one he had been protecting since he had become a product of scientific experimentation. Straightening his back and pulling himself up to his full height, he turned back to the woman. _You will give me the antidote, if you do not-_

The woman merely laughed and snapped her fingers. She smiled as she sensed memories begin to fly through the boy's mind. Her ability to control people with her mind had been something she had developed quite a long time ago. Unfortunately, she had never been able to gain control over her son, even when he had been young. There was some sort of mental wall that protected his mind from her control. It seemed that her son's little friend had that same wall, something she found to be quite annoying. Why couldn't these _children _be more like her pathetic husband?

Slenderman tried to force his way around the memories. He was awake, but he could still see those images flashing through his mind; he could still feel all of the pain. But, he had dealt with pain his entire life, so he was not about to allow these memories to hold any more control over him. With a growl and concerted effort, he pushed the memory from his mind. However his mother was doing this, it made little difference. He was not about to let her control him so easily. Forcing the woman's presence out of his head, he darkly stated, _You will not enter my mind, you monstrous malefactor. _

She was quite surprised at the fact that he was able throw her from his mind so easily. Still, she was not about to allow that surprise to show on her face. One could never show fear in the face of the enemy. One always had to maintain control. "Monstrous, am I? Hmm, well I suppose that it would take a monster to know one. Your father certainly did a good job on you, better than I told him to do, anyway." The bait was set now, and she need only wait for him to take it.

Slenderman knew that she was baiting him. He knew that he should just ignore her statements and demand the antidote again. There was no telling if the pathogen was already spreading through Totheark, but the bait was hard to resist. _What are you talking about? _he asked while turning to look back at the one he had raised. He began looking over the stakes, trying to see if there was some way to remove them that wouldn't set off the pathogen. Still, he did not understand how the release system worked so he could not find a way that seemed to be safe.

Totheark looked between the two. He knew that it would not end well if Slendy was to take her bait. She had done this with him when she had been trying to draw her son to this location. Taking knowledge from her came with a price, a very high price. He could only hope that Slendy was smart enough to avoid her mental traps and get him to safety before it was too late. Then again, his father figure had never failed him before, so the masked man doubted he would start now.

It was at that point that Ellaina came into the room, holding a knife tight in her hand. Her sudden presence managed to startle the woman. One of the spikes, a similar kind like the one impaled through Totheark, flew from her hand to lodge itself in her throat. By some strange twist of Fate, it did not destroy any major blood vessels. It only managed to rip into her vocal chords.

As she fell to her knees, gasping and trying to stop the blood seeping down her neck, the Slenderman felt rage drip into his blood. He would not lose her. No, never again would he lose her. She was weak now, but he somehow knew she could live through this. She always lived through things. Ellaina could not die so easily, right? But, he was not about to let his mother anywhere near the one he loved, especially considering the fact she was injured. He had his mother slammed against the wall without so much as a thought. _What have you done? You will give me the antidote. Now._

"I think not, boy," she replied as she looked at the woman who now coughing up blood. It didn't take much for her to look into the woman's mind and see her memories. The woman smiled cruelly as she forced the girl to relive some of her worst memories-of fire, of torture, of poison, of Death. If only her vocal chords hadn't been destroyed, her screams would be music. The woman looked back to the One who had her pinned up against the wall, holding her there all the more tightly. Even with his lack of face, it was clear that he was concerned for the woman. The mother narrowed her eyes and read through the woman's memories once again. She began to outright laugh. "Oh, so that is the crazy, little shrew that has come to love you? Hmm, I had ordered your father to kill her." Seeing the woman curling herself into a ball and crying as the memories became worse, Slendy's mother laughed all the more.

_Do not call her that, _came the growled reply. He wanted to go to Ellaina and help her, but what could he do? His mother held control over her mind at the moment. Fighting for control inside of her mind could lead to some deleterious results. Perhaps if he could get her talking, her control would slip and Ellaina could be free. _What do you mean, you ordered your husband?_

"Your father," she corrected.

_He is nothing to me._

"Oh, really? Well, he certainly wouldn't like to hear that. As you can see, I am able to invade the minds of others and make them experience their worst memories all over again or control them if I please. Did you not wonder why you kept dreaming of your past? Well, let's just call it a little Christmas present from your Mommy." She only smirked as the Slenderman shoved her harder still against the wall. This was too good. She had the boy right where she wanted him. "Well, my son, your Daddy was under my control from the time that we got married. I don't know what lies he told you when you two last met, but I am sure that I can give you the truth.

"You see, your dear Daddy never wanted to harm you. He wanted to raise you whereas I wished you were never born, but he would not allow me to simply be rid of you. So, the result was to force his hand when the time was right. I was not about to raise a child and throw away my life. He had the choice to kill you or take you to his job and use you as their little test monkey. He, of course, waned neither, so I made the choice for him." She chuckled, remembering how easy it had been to control his mind during those days of their son's transformation. Her mind began to focus on those thoughts rather than Ellaina. Her face fell. "But he let you get away. He was able to break from my control and let you escape after you killed everyone. And now I find that you have killed your own father, the only one in the family who truly did love you. Quite a twist, isn't it?"

This knowledge sent him reeling. This could not possibly be true, yet he was able to sense no duplicity from this woman, his mother. His own mother was the one who had truly been behind making him into the creature, this beast, he was today. It was _her _fault that he had never had a normal life, why he had been forced to abandon any hope of ever having a childhood in place of caring for a child. His father had been the one who loved him, not his mother as he had been led to believe for so long. And he had killed the man viciously, made him suffer a pain that no human should know. Gods, why couldn't anything be easy in his life? Everything he had ever known from the age of five and onward had been an uphill battle. He had only recently discovered love with Ellaina, had found that there was still hope in the world for someone like him, and now even that was being threatened once again to be taken away from him. She was also threatening Totheark's life as well. He could not and would not allow her to harm either of them. He cared for them too much to let them die. He loved them too much to let them die.

The tendrils wrapped themselves painfully tight around her slim limbs. _Give me the antidote._

"No. I will never give it to you. You ruined me, so why shouldn't I do the same to you?"

_It was not by my choice to be conceived. Biology determined that, _Slendy replied, anger in his voice as it ripped into his mother's mind. _You think that you know how to control the human mind, do you? Let me tell you something, mother dearest, you are so pathetically wrong. It is laughable. Now, you will learn what can truly be done to the human mind when one wishes it, when one has the raw power to make it so. You wanted to cause me pain? You wanted to cause Ellaina and Totheark pain? Well, why don't you learn of their pain? It is the best way to understand another's suffering. You dared to threaten the ones I love. You dared to harm them. Now you suffer the consequences. _

The mother did not know what he was talking about until memories began invading her mind, memories that most certainly were not her own. She felt the pain her son felt when the tendrils had torn their way through his back; she felt Ellaina's pain from the tormentor and his poison; she felt Totheark's emotional pain upon finding out what had become of his true father. She screamed as memories began to flood her mind.

A/N- Plot twist of doom. *evil laugh* Poor Slenderman. Why am I so mean to him?


	15. Chapter 15

Anne now came rushing into the room. She had finally managed to find a weapon that she could use against the one Slendy was facing down. Her weapon of choice was a cookie dough roller. The girl had grown up watching _Courage the Cowardly Dog_, and the cookie dough roller always worked for Muriel against both Eustace and various monsters, so she figured that it could work for her. She paused at the doorway upon the sight she was greeted with. There was a man in a mask pinned up against the wall, Ellaina had something impaled in her neck, and Slendy had another woman pinned up against a wall and seemed to be harming her in some way. She could only guess that this woman was the root of all of their problems. "What is going on?!" This may be what Ellaina now defined as normal but it was anything but for Anne. Sure, she was used to Slendy by this point, but that did not mean that she was accustomed to scenes such as the one in front of her.

Ellaina merely looked up at her friend, unable to speak. Slendy didn't as much as glance in her direction. He did however add whatever bad memories she had to his mother's torment. The man pinned up to the wall looked her up and down once. He thought that this short woman was quite pretty, and considering that Slendy hadn't killed her and that she wasn't freaking out over him, it was clear that the two knew each other. That could be a good sign.

"Well," Totheark began, "the woman Slendy has thrown up against the wall is his mother. She isn't the nicest of people. Apparently, she was the one giving Slendy his nightmares. She also has been the one who has been torturing me in an attempt to draw her son here, though I don't know why she would want to bring him here. I would have thought that it would be obvious he would kill her for harming someone he cared about. He doesn't take well to that. He's so over-protective, but in this case I'm not going to complain. Anyways, mommy dearest got on Slendy's last nerve when she revealed that she had been controlling his dad. Turns out that daddy was the good guy and she had been controlling him with her mind."

"Like some sorta Jedi mind trick thing?" Anne questioned, coming to stand in front of the masked man. She found him to be quite interesting. How could he talk so easily when he had stakes impaled through his joints? She didn't know the answers, but she didn't bother with trying to find the answers to these odd questions. Ever since Slenderman had come into the picture, nothing was ever normal. Well, at least it was more entertaining this way.

"Exactly! You actually know what I'm talking about. Slendy never gets it when I reference the movie. He is so old school, but that is beside the point. You wanted to know what was going on. Well, Slendy isn't exactly happy, so he is using his own mind talents to make her suffer. She has to give Slendy the antidote so the pathogens in these things-" he nodded toward the wooden spikes in both himself and to Ellaina "-won't kill us. I would like to be able to live to see another day. Not to mention, if I die, who would annoy Slendy on a daily basis?"

Anne nodded, looking back at Ellaina. "Well, I sure did miss a lot. Alright, little miss, let's get you out of here. I'm sure Slenderman will be able to take care of our other friend here." She looked back to the masked man with a smile. "What's your name? I'm Anne."

"James Totheark Jr. I only wish we were meeting under different circumstances. I would perhaps have to ask you out for a drink," he replied. He could only hope that dear Slendy would consider Anne "good enough for him." Again, the over-protective nature could become annoying very quickly.

Anne laughed a bit, blushing. Still, there was no time for this sort of prattle for she had to get Ellaina out of here. Maybe there was some way she could stem the bleeding. She certainly didn't intend to remove the stake. That could cause her friend to hemorrhage. As she helped Ellaina to her feet, she waved a good-bye to both Totheark and Slenderman.

Slenderman could sense Anne taking Ellaina out of the room. With the two of them gone, he had only his own pain and that of Totheark to force upon his mother's mind. Forcing his own memories onto her would be bad enough, but perhaps if he granted her a brief reprieve she would be willing to give him the antidote. He allowed his mental control to slip from her, along with the tendrils. She dropped to the floor in a heap at his feet. He simply glowered down on her before demanding that she give him the blasted antidote to the pathogen.

The mother only laughed hysterically. She pulled out a vial of black liquid and held it up at him, showing it off. "You know what this is boy, don't you? I'm certain that you would remember it after all of the pain that it caused you. If you can manage to decode the chemicals it is composed of properly, you will be able to heal your little friend. Do you hear me? Friend, as in one. You cannot save them both, but I'll make the decision easy on you." She reached out to the one pinned on the wall. She could do more than just bring about memories. She could send the mind into a fit that would send the brain into a coma and then death. If she was about to die, she certainly intended to take someone down with her.

A/N- Do I get props for the reference to _Courage the Cowardly Dog_? I loved that show as a kid-and I don't own it, so there's the disclaimer. -_- Anyways, you asked for me to update right away, so here is what you asked for. Now, I am nearly done with this story, but I need you all to help me out with a little plot development. I won't give away anything, but I need to know what I should have Ellaina answer within a later chapter-positive or negative. Leave a review with what you want. One of you reviewers knows what I am taking about. 8D And, wow! Long note for me. _


	16. Chapter 16

Totheark felt something pushing its way into his mind. At first, he was able to resist whatever this force was. Slendy had taught him how to guard his mind to some extent. While he certainly didn't have the same control over guarding his mind as the Slenderman, he knew enough to hold his own against those who wanted to take full control of him. But, this force was something that he had never experienced. It was far stronger than anything he had ever encountered, and it was able to work around the wall he was putting up to defend himself. The force began ripping its way through his mind, overwhelming him, sending his mind spinning. This certainly was not going to end well.

When Totheark's screams began to fill the room, the mother found she was being held up to the impressive height of the Slenderman. _Stop it. You will not harm him, do you understand me? _He would not lose the boy. He cared for the boy too much. He had promised to always keep Totheark safe, and he planned to keep that promise. There had to be some way to get his mother to stop this, to make her give him enough of the antidote to save both Ellaina and Totheark. There had to be a way to convince her to tell him how to decode the chemicals. Slowly, he came to realize something. She loved control and power. If he could offer her some kind of power, perhaps she would allow his friends to live. He didn't even like the idea that she might get her hands onto Anne. He might hate the woman, but he didn't want to see her dead. What an odd thought that was. He had promised that he would kill her, and now he didn't like the thought of her being dead. Clearly, his humanity was coming back to him. _What is it you want? I will give you whatever you want, mother dearest, if you allow them to live. If you chose to kill either, know that your death will be something you beg for long before you are allowed to have it._

Finally, she thought. Her plan had worked perfectly. The boy had always been far too compassionate for his own good, and it appeared that despite his change into a monster he still held that trait. "We never finished with our little tests on you, my son. The Lab had so many more experiments for you in order to test the human genome. I want to finish what they started. And with technology being improved now as compared to then, there is so much more that I can do to you. Let me complete the tests and I'll let your little friend live."

_You will let both of them live._ He certainly didn't like even the thought of going through those tests again, but he would be willing to do just about anything to keep Ellaina and Totheark safe, even Anne for that matter. It still confused him that he was willing to defend her, but he was not about to focus on that fact right now.

"Now, how do you expect me to do that when one of them is already dead?" She smiled as she sensed the fear of loss fill her son's mind. If she could only break his will, she would be able to easily control him and finish the testing. It would be wonderful, and the death of his pathetic friends was just the thing to break that will of his.

The screams had stopped. They had completely stopped. The room had been quiet outside of their conversation and Slendy had not even realized it. As if in slow motion, he turned to face the one who had been pinned to the wall and froze. Totheark's body now lay limp against the constraints, his head lolled down to an odd angle. No, this could not be happening. It couldn't happen. He had promised the boy's father and the boy himself that no harm would come to him, that he would keep the child safe. Totheark could not be dead. There was no way that he could die so easily. The masked man was stronger than this. Surely, his will would have been strong enough to overpower the mental attacks from the mother and keep himself alive? Slowly, the Slenderman approached the boy he had raised and considered to be like a son to him. He couldn't bring himself to come any closer when he could not sense any life force in him. The boy appeared to be dead. His mother had taken the life of the masked man, the one Slendy had treated as his son. Pain he could not describe filled his heart as he turned to look back on the woman, who was laughing at his heartache.

_What have you done?! How could you?! He was like a son to me! Why did you have to take him from me?! _he screamed, actually screamed, at his mother allowing her to feel the utter loss and pain he was experiencing. He never did this, never allowed an enemy to know what he was feeling. There was no way to control his emotions now. There were too many feelings warring inside him for control to be able to keep them at bay. He knew how badly he could hurt humans when he simply allowed his emotion to overtake him, and that was exactly what he wanted. He wanted to utterly destroy this woman before him. This woman, his own mother, had destroyed his life, harmed the one he loved, and killed the one he treated like a son. She had forced his father to ruin him, and she was responsible for why he had killed the man. He had always wanted his father's love as a child and he had unknowingly had it. The man was dead because she had been controlling him. Blind fury took him over as he forced his way into her mind and made her feel the torment of all of the people he had killed in the past in addition to the pain he had gone through in his life. He let her know that their suffering, and even his own pain, would be nothing as compared to her own.

The tendrils began to rip away flesh and even bone. Her blood splayed everywhere as his hands added to the torture. He didn't care if her blood covered him from head to toe, didn't care if he would have her death on his hands. She was the lowest scum of the earth and he would rid the world of such filth. She would never harm another human, or being, ever again. He simply planned to make this woman feel the worst pain she had ever experienced before she would die, before she would feel the burn of hellfire. Both the physical and mental onslaught continued until she was no longer able to scream, for her vocal chords had been torn from her throat by her son's hands. She was surprised when the attacks suddenly ceased and she was able to sink down to the floor in a pool of her own blood. She looked up at him, hoping that perhaps he was finished. She had thought that she knew how to cause pain, but she had been painfully mistaken. Her son was capable of so much more than her. His power was something she could not understand. She knew now that it had been a mistake to draw him out and to this place. But, he _had _stopped his attacks. Maybe he was going to allow her to live. She was mistaken once again. The last thing she saw was her son tilt his head ever so slightly before two tendrils came down upon her, tearing the defining features of the human face away.

_No one can hear you scream, only you._ He forced an image of the tendrils coming through his back into her mind, made her feel his pain and feel the desperate need to be able to physically scream out only to be denied that._ No one can see the expressions you would put upon your face, only you can mentally picture them. _Another image came to her of him looking upon a lost camper in the woods and him wanting to act kind to the person, wanting to smile at the person, in order to get some food for the young Totheark. _People look upon you in fear, even when you have done nothing to them. _A sight of that same camper looking at him in utter terror came into her mind._ You have to become a murderer in order to fend for yourself and those connected to you. _An image of that camper being killed and the anguish he felt at becoming a killer entered her mind. _And the worst part is that you know there is no escape from it. You are forced to become a monster in order to survive. _Images of all of the people he was forced to kill entered her mind and she felt the pain it caused him to do so. _But, you eventually grow numb to it. You no longer care that you are killing people. You get used to it, and you start doing it for fun. _Those described images came to her mind. She could see and feel his killings become more out of habit and fun than anything. _Killing becomes a sport and you enjoy the thrill, the rush, it gives you. _She could see him hunting humans within the woods. She could feel the rush he got from treating them as prey, from toying with their minds. _Do you now understand the suffering you have put me through? But I managed to hold on to a small amount of my humanity. I found love and friends. _She saw images of Ellaina caring for him, telling him she loved him. She saw Totheark joking and laughing with him. _You have failed and you will never harm me again. But for causing those I care for pain, you will pay with your life. Know that I will revel in your death, mother._

The tendrils wrapped themselves around her bloodied, thin body once again and pinned her to the wall. More of the tendrils began to come to her, driving themselves under her ruined flesh to rip away blood vessels and internal organs. She was mentally begging him to stop the onslaught, to simply kill her. She tried to apologize for all that she had done, but he would have none of it. His attacks merely continued, pushing her pleading presence out of his mind. Despite the torment the mother reached out to the one pinned to the wall, finding that a small part of his mind was still alive. With what little strength she had left, she gave it a spark. His life force came rushing back, bringing the body back to life, but her son didn't notice this. Her mental screams became worse as he began to tear away her limbs. Her blood was everywhere and she could feel herself slowly dying. He dropped her to the ground and knelt in front of her, that blank face seeming to be staring into her soul.

_Why? Why would you ever do these things to me? I loved you, mother. _His hand came to touch her broken face, cupping her chin. _I did nothing to you. Answer me!_

The woman gasped when that touch suddenly became far too strong for her weak bones to handle. Her bones cracked under the strength of his grip. Her mind reached out to him and found that it was open, waiting for her answer. _I'm sorry. _It was the only thing she was able to send. She was too weak at this point from loss of blood to say anything else.

_No you aren't, _came the response. He removed his hand from her broken face and with a quick swipe of a tendril, her head was removed. Her head rolled away. He slowly pulled himself to his feet, feeling utterly spent. It was time to take care of Totheark's…body. A tremble ran through him at the thought of needing to bury the masked man.

There was no pathogen; it had been his mother's final thought that he had picked up on before taking her life. It had just been nothing but another lie. He sighed, as he made his way toward the unmoving body of Totheark. How he had failed. He had been tasked with keeping the child safe from harm and he hadn't even been able to do that. It shouldn't have been difficult to keep the masked man alive. It should have been a relatively easy thing, considering the power he had. But the child was dead, gone from his life forever. The masked man would never be able to joke and laugh with him again. He turned away from the body. He could not bring himself to go to him yet. The pain of loss was too much for him to stand.

As he was about to leave the room to try and find Ellaina, he heard a soft, weak moan come from the man behind him. It couldn't be his mother moaning, but it couldn't be Totheark. Both were dead. He had sensed the masked man's death once his screams had died away. But, Ellaina had survived when he had thought her dead. Could it be that Fate had decided to smile on him once again, to give him back yet another loved one from Death's cold embrace? Slendy turned to find Totheark very slowly raising his head up. He felt his heart leap into his throat with something that might have been joy-he didn't know exactly what the emotion was. Totheark was alive. The boy was alive! He stood rooted to the spot, unable to move for the moment.

Totheark didn't know how he was alive; he had felt Death leading him away. Something, though, had entered his mind and pulled him back to the real world. Yes, he was in pain, but he was not about to complain. He was alive. Slendy stood there at the doorway, staring at him. He could only imagine what the Slenderman could have felt if he thought that his little masked friend was dead. It probably wasn't something he wanted to focus on. The young Totheark managed to make himself say, "Hey, I'm not dead, dad," before he passed out.

Slendy was immediately at his side. He knew that Totheark only gave him that title when he was really hurting, be it physically or mentally. Carefully, the stakes were removed and the young man was pulled into the arms of the Slenderman. He held the boy closely to him, happy beyond words that he was alive. Even unconscious, the masked man leaned into his embrace. He sent calming images into the boy's unconscious mind, letting him know that the pain was over and that he was now safe. He began to carry the boy into the family room, covered in blood and looking as though he had survived some sort of epic battle. Thoughts of what his mother had done to him and those close to him made him hold Totheark closer to him as he walked through the destroyed hallway towards his destination. It had been a taxing day for all parties involved, and now it was finally over. They could all finally rest content knowing they were safe from harm's way.

A/N- This is the longest chapter that I wrote for this story. Wow! I hope you all enjoyed it. Finally, everyone is safe. Again, some of you have told me what you wanted for that later chapter, but I would like a few more votes. Do you want Ellaina to answer in a positive or negative way? Let me know. ;D


	17. Chapter 17

"Ellaina! Ellaina, you have to wake up! Do you hear me?! Wake up!" Anne was screaming at her friend, shaking her shoulders. Anne had brought Ellaina back to the family room and after turning the couch back over had placed her onto it. Ellaina had seemed to be alright, outside of the pain she was having from the wooden stake. But once the sounds of screams came from the other room, the wooden stake had somehow removed itself from Ellaina's neck. Anne had tried to stop the blood that came from her friend, but there had been so much of it. Now Anne was desperate to wake up her friend. The taller woman was not dead, but her pulse was becoming slower and slower.

Anne looked away from her friend when she heard something approaching her. She found it to be the Slenderman coming into the room, covered in blood and carrying the masked man in his arms. It looked as if the one in the mask had passed out. Anne couldn't blame the man after what he had suffered through. But, now was not the time for her thoughts to be focused on the man. Sure, he had been kind to her, but she had known Ellaina for longer. She was going to care more about her friend than the man in the mask.

"Slendy, there's something wrong. Ellaina-she won't wake up. The stake somehow removed itself from her neck. I don't know how. She lost a lot of blood," the short woman stated while coming towards him. She followed his movements as he carefully placed Totheark into an armchair. It seemed that he hadn't been listening to her. "Did you hear me? I said-"

_Anne, for once, can you please stop speaking? _Slenderman stated, pushing past her to come next to Ellaina, kneeling beside her. Looking over her he saw just how fragile she was. Humans could be harmed so much more easily than him-but what was he? He had once been human, so didn't it mean that he was once like this? He never should have become involved with her. She would be safe and out of harm's way if he had never come into her life. Nothing would have harmed her. Lightly, he traced the scars across her face that he had caused. That was a memory he didn't care to remember. Never, never should he have grown close to her. When he thought her dead, he should have just kept it that way and not have gone out searching for her, but he had. He had been selfish. He should have taken her life when they first met and been done with it, but the past couldn't be reversed. He would not want to reverse it, anyway. She brought out what little amount of humanity he had left.

Slowly, he leaned into her to try to heal her wounds. He knew that she would be able to survive what had happened to her. Ellaina always survived. He could sense her injuries mend themselves, could sense broken tissue restore itself. It had been so interesting to him when he had first discovered how to heal others, but now it was commonplace to him. It had been on accident that he had discovered this ability. Young Totheark had had fallen and scraped up his knee. The boy had been sobbing and begging for "daddy" to kiss it and make it feel better. As a way to make the child feel better, he had done what the child asked, only to discover that the wound healed itself. Neither knew how it happened, but it had proved useful in their lives.

Ellaina suddenly came back to full awareness. She pulled away from Slendy for a moment to look at him. He was covered in blood and looked worn out, to say the least. She threw her arms around his shoulders, hugging him tightly. It was all over. They were finally safe. Over his shoulder and behind them she could make out Anne talking to the masked man, who seemed to have quite an interest in what the woman had to say. Ellaina had to wonder when those two had hit it off. The signs were all there with how Anne was acting. Anne liked the masked man. She laughed softly.

_What are you laughing about, my Little One? You almost died…again. _Slenderman stated as he slowly pushed her away to look into her eyes. He couldn't help but feel guilty over this fact. If she had never gotten involved in his life-

"Before you start beating yourself up over it, just stop. It is not your fault that the woman tried to kill me," Ellaina stated. She could partially remember the masked man-Totheark, she reminded herself-saying who the woman was, but she could not quite remember. Her mind had been too focused on her own pain to listen to what he had had to say.

Slenderman looked away from her and back to Totheark, who was having quite the conversation with Anne, despite the pain that he was in. The boy never ceased to amaze him. He looked back at Ellaina. _The woman was my mother. She had been controlling my father. He never meant to harm me._

Ellaina sighed. "You have really bad luck. That, or Fate just likes to troll you."

_What does that mean? _Again, he didn't know these modern terms. At the very least, they were falling back into their old ways of conversing. Perhaps things finally could get back to the way they once were, before all of the pain and the suffering. He could only hope that it could stay this way. He didn't ever want to fear losing her again. She meant far too much to him. He loved her and wished he could spend the rest of his life with her. Maybe there was a way that he could. Wasn't there some sort of human ceremony that was used to bind two people together for life? Was that what his parents had gone through? If he was going to try something like that, he would only get one chance to do it and to do it right. That certainly made him nervous. He would need to plan this out.

Ellaina sat up slowly and stretched her arms high above her head, completely unaware of Slendy's thoughts or of how closely he was watching her. Upon hearing her back pop, she relaxed into the couch once again with a long sigh. It was so odd that she could come so close to Death so often and then simply cheat him. Not a moment ago, she had nearly been dead on this couch. Now she was sitting here trying to explain what "trolling" meant to the Slenderman. Her life certainly had become interesting since Christmas time.

As she finished with her explanation, the Slenderman came to sit beside her. She still had yet to explain why she had been laughing earlier, but she was once again doing so while she was watching Anne and Totheark interact. He could not understand why this would make her laugh, though.

"Aren't they cute?" she asked. Upon looking at Slendy and getting the distinct impression that he was utterly confused, Ellaina shook her head. He really was just like any other man-unable to see what was right in front of him. How annoying. Still, she couldn't stay annoyed with him. She went on to explain, "Look how they are acting with one another. He's showing her where he's been hurt and she's acting all concerned, acting like she could possibly help. He's putting on a brave face, acting like he isn't in any pain and is some kind of tough guy. God, it didn't take those two long to hit it off." Again, she was met with another confused look. Ellaina laughed, shaking her head. "Why do I put up with you?"

_Because you love me? _Slender questioned.

"Yeah, that must be it," Ellaina replied, still watching her friend and the masked man. When she felt tendrils wrapping around her waist and pulling her close to him, she looked up at him, smiling. The woman still did not understand how she had fallen for him. She knew that any logical person would have gone running from him, screaming. But she had seen kindness under his hard exterior, and it was that which drove her to wish to stay with him. "You don't need to question it, Slendy. I do love you, quite a bit actually. Anyways, as to what I said earlier, it appears that your Totheark and my Anne like one another. They certainly met in an odd way."

_Well, so did we, but-wait…what?! _ _I do not approve of this_, Slendy replied, getting up from the couch to break up whatever it was that was going on between the two. He didn't like Anne, so she was therefore not good enough for Totheark. Yes, he was being over-protective like the boy hated, but so be it. The child deserved better. He would put an end to this before anything was able to start.

Ellaina came to stand in front of him, holding up her hands in an attempt to get him to stop. "I think they will work very nicely with one another. Yeah, you don't like Anne, but it looks like Totheark does. You could at least see where this goes for them."

Slendy stared between the two, seeing the truth in Ellaina's words. He may not know much about relationships, but he could clearly see that Totheark liked Anne, though he could not understand why. Still, he had a way to interrupt them. _I still have to heal him._

"Well, that'll be a bit awkward," Ellaina replied, scratching at the back of her head.

Slendy laughed. _Oh, I do not heal him in the way I heal you. Don't be silly, my Little One. I believe humans use the phrase 'kiss it to make it feel better'. Well, that is the concept of how his healing works. Hmm, the same could be done for you._

"Then why don't you just do that?" Ellaina questioned.

He looked over his shoulder, walking toward Totheark. _Simple, my Little One. I like kissing you. _He paused briefly, thinking. _You remember when the monster attacked you, don't you? I healed you using Totheark's concept. You had been willing to trust anyone who said they could heal you. Well, the next time I was the one injured and you needed to heal me. That could only work through your human compassion and trust._

"But what about all the other times…like now? You know I trust you with my life." Ellaina replied, somewhat confused with his explanation.

_As I have already told you, I enjoy kissing you, my Ellaina, and the process works for you. Why should I stop something as…enjoyable and effective as that now? _Slendy replied. He wanted nothing more than to simply capture her lips once again and forget about everything that had happened recently, but that was not an option. He needed to help out Totheark. Perhaps if his plan could work, they would be able to share more time together. It would all depend on how she would answer him-in the positive or the negative.

A/N- So, do you reviewers understand now what I was talking about in asking for positive or negative? If not, reread. There is a pretty obvious hint as to what Mr. Slenderman is planning. Oh, and the positives have the win by the way. xD


	18. Chapter 18

A/N- Why is it so much harder for me to write fluff than it is for me to write angst? *grumbles* Oh, and I wrote a little ministory featuring young Slendy and young Totheark at Christmas time. It's called No Room at the Inn. Now, on with the story and on with stopping of story advertising. *laughs*

Totheark was healed and had decided to go home to change out of his bloodied clothing. Anne had decided that she just had to go with him-"to make sure you're alright" she had said. Despite Slendy insisting that Totheark was fine and was a big boy who didn't need someone to hold his hand in order to get home safely, the short woman had went along anyway. She didn't care what Slendy had to say. She was going to go with Totheark whether he liked it or not-and he most certainly did not like it. It had taken Ellaina yelling at the two to get Slendy to relent and let Anne go along with Totheark, who had been laughing throughout the entire exchange.

Ellaina had changed into something she was more accustomed to-jeans and a baggy t-shirt. She was now sitting at her computer, the program for her Slenderman game open. The problem was that she had no idea what to make the note say. It had been so long since she had played the part of der Ritter. She could just ask the One this game was created after to write up a note, but she had no idea where he had gone. He had been in the family room when she went to go change her clothing-not something she particularly enjoyed considering that there was a dead body in her room. Now, though, she had no idea where he could have gone.

It was therefore a surprise when the object of her thoughts appeared behind her with a simple greeting of hello. She jumped, not expecting him to do that. It had been quite some time since he had given her a good scare. He only laughed as she tried to get her breathing back under control. She glared at him, crossing her arms over her chest, and stuck her tongue out. This only earned her an amused look from him.

"You are such a jerk," Ellaina commented, turning back to focus on the computer game. She really did need to update this game. The last time it had been updated was before she had "died" in Slendy's arms. That was something she did not like to think about. The pain she had heard in his voice had nearly killed her. Shaking those thoughts away, she decided to pull up the last note that had been posted to the game.

_Leave me alone, Humans. I am in no mood to play now. Collect the notes and leave me. I will not disturb you. Just leave me to myself. There are no notes in the house._

Ellaina did not remember this note. It was so vastly different from all the others. It made der Ritter seem almost weak. She knew that she had never made anything like this-Slendy would have deleted it in a heartbeat. Her brow furrowed as she tried to recall ever making this note. It was after a few moments that she saw the date this was posted-sometime after Christmas. That wasn't possible, though. By that time she had been in the hands of Slenderman's father. She looked to the man standing behind her. Maybe he could remember.

_I was keeping the game updated…as a way to preserve your memory, _Slenderman provided, his voice tight as he recalled that time when he thought her dead. That was the truth of it. He had thought her dead, by his own hand. The game was the only thing, beside her presents, that he had had left of her. Keeping the game updated was like keeping a part of her alive. The last note he had posted certainly wasn't up to the level the normal notes were, but it had been something. He continued, _And then Anne showed up saying you weren't gone and, well, I stopped with the updates. I thought finding you was more important. _He looked away from her, rather embarrassed by the emotion he could hear in his voice. He wasn't supposed to act like this. He was supposed to be some sort of emotionless monster, wasn't he? So, how was it that Ellaina was making him feel like he was human again? He knew that there was no hope that he could ever be human again, so it would be better for him to act like he did when he first met her, wouldn't it? But, he _liked _feeling human again, and he loved the way Ellaina was able to accept him so easily. She managed to see what little humanity that he had left inside of himself, something that even he wasn't able to see all of the time. She even knew how inhuman he could be, and she still somehow managed to care about him. It wasn't right for him to stay as a part of her life, but that's the way he wanted his life to be. If he could just make his plan work, perhaps he would get the chance to stay with her.

Ellaina sighed. She could tell that Slenderman was deep in thought once again. This wasn't what she wanted. They had had hardly any time alone with one another since he had saved her from his father. What little time they had had together had been interrupted by Anne, nightmares, or forces trying to kill them. It wouldn't be long until Anne came back with Totheark, so she wanted to make the most of what time they had.

_Ellaina, things have been…well, stressful lately, wouldn't you agree?_ he asked, interrupting her thoughts. He picked at some dried blood on his tie, unable to look at her. He should really go home and change. She needed to agree to this next part in order for his plan to work.

She nodded. It was clear that he was up to something.

So far so good, he thought. _Well, don't humans usually go away from home when they are stressed? You know, go to a place they have never been to in order to relax._

"It's called a vacation, Slendy," Ellaina replied, smiling at the fact that he still didn't know some common things of the world around him. It was honestly quite cute when she thought about it. Seeing him cross his arms over his chest, she guessed that he had picked up on her thoughts. Ellaina merely smiled sweetly.

_Yes, a vacation, or whatever you want to call it. Well, why don't we go on one? I suppose that we could take Anne and Totheark along. I don't trust those two being left on their own. There's no telling what trouble they will get themselves into. They should already be back by now. _Slenderman replied. He really did not like the idea of Anne being with Totheark. The girl was not good enough for his boy-well, the boy he raised. He really needed to stop considering the boy his son. Biologically, the boy was not related to him in the least. Still, he liked playing the part of father. Totheark insisted that he had done a good job at it.

"Don't worry about them. I'm sure that Anne will be able to take good care of Totheark. But, let's go back to that first part of what you said. You want to take me on a vacation?" Ellaina asked. He most certainly was up to something. He never did things for fun, well as far as she knew. He had only once played around with her in the snow. That was a memory she certainly liked. When she saw Slendy merely nod, it only confirmed her suspicions. He was indefinitely up to something, though she had no idea what. He always had a purpose for things, so she doubted it that he only wanted to take her somewhere for fun. "Well, where would we go?"

_Paris? _came the reply. It was supposed to be really nice there, and it was supposed to be a city for young love. In business they said that location was everything, or so he had heard. He didn't want to treat his plan as a business deal, but that's what it seemed to be turning into.

Ellaina shook her head, standing up to face him. "Paris sounds great, but you, my good sir, are _so _up to something." She put her hands on her hips, trying to look intimidating, despite how much taller he was than her. "What are you planning, my Slenderman? You better tell me, or I'll never tell you how much I love you again."

Slendy pulled her close to him, tendrils keeping her held against him. His hands trailed odd paths up her back, making her tremble. _Hmm, I think that is a lie, my Little One. _He lightly kissed her forehead, her nose, and then her lips. He felt her relax into him; she pulled herself closer to him if that was even possible. He liked this feeling. It was far better than nightmares or torture. He pulled away from her, looking her in the eyes. _Do you love me now, my Ellaina?_

"Tell me what you have planned and I will," she replied, trying to break away from the hold he had on her. She knew that if he kept this up, he would win. She would forget her thoughts.

He pulled her to him again, meeting his nonexistent lips to her perfectly human ones. The tendrils began to trail over her back, finding small sensitive areas. Her body trembled against his as he continued this action. Oh, he quite enjoyed the way she was reacting to him. He would be able to kill two birds with one stone. He would be able to distract her and get his revenge for what she had done to him in the hotel room. Again, he pulled away from her and allowed the tendrils to drop from her body. _Hmm, don't you love your Slenderman? He loves you very much._

"If-if my Slendy loves me, he would tell me his plans," she replied, her resolve weakening. He had never touched her like this. Even at the hotel, he had not done this. She had been the one finding his sensitive spots. No one had ever made her feel this way. She did love him, of that she had no doubt in her mind. Her thoughts were interrupted when he suddenly pulled her to him again.

He could feel her resolve dropping away. If he kept this up, she would completely forget what she wanted to know. Ellaina couldn't very well know what he had planned. It would ruin everything. So, he would need to distract her completely. He certainly hadn't done anything like this before, and was only following the example Ellaina had set back in the hotel room. Slowly, he moved his lips from hers to her neck, like she had done. There was one area that his lips brushed over that made her shudder. He moved back to that area, kissing it. Clearly, he found the right spot as she suddenly pushed herself against him and her hands gripped at his shoulders.

Slendy stopped, pulling away from her completely leaving no part of him in contact with her flesh. She looked at him with wide eyes. He had her right where he wanted her. Oh, he knew it was bad of him to treat her like this, but it was easy and he loved the feeling of it. _Don't you love me, my dear?_

"Yes. Yes, I love you more than anything, more than life. Now, don't stop what you started." Ellaina replied, wanting more than anything to feel him so close to her again.

He internally smiled. This was so perfect. _Hmm, I'm sorry my dear, but we will need to finish this later. I must use the restroom. And, you do need your sleep after what you've been through._

Ellaina openly stared at him for a long moment before she realized what he was doing. Her mouth dropped open. He couldn't do this. He-he wasn't a tease! She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest, keeping up with the show. "You expect me to sleep now?"

Slendy couldn't help but laugh as he continued, "Yes, I do, Ms. Ellaina." He internally chided himself for emphasizing the ms in her name.

"Well, well, well," came a voice from behind Slenderman. He knew that voice all too well. He turned to find Totheark and Anne standing there, both red in the face and trying not to laugh. Totheark looked to Anne, "Looks like Slendy has some talents I didn't know about."

Ellaina's eyes grew wide and her face turned red upon realizing that her friend and Totheark had been watching them. She didn't know how long they had been there, and she really didn't want to know. She never acted like this in front of people, and she doubted that anyone had ever seen Slendy act this way. Her eyes turned to him.

_Well, I have to go. I'm a bit messy, _Slendy stated before simply teleporting away. He was not about to deal with the comments Totheark or Anne would come up with. He had thought that they were alone. He should have been able to sense those two, but no, he had been too focused on his Little One. She could prove to be so incredibly distracting. Still, he was not about to complain. He would certain let her "distract" him again-so long as Totheark and Anne stayed out of the room!

Ellaina glared at the empty spot that was once the Slenderman. He could be such a jerk sometimes. He should have stayed here to deal with the embarrassment.

"So, Ellaina, it seems like Slendy was having a good time, eh?" Anne asked.

The taller of the two women glared at her friend. "Maybe I _should _just let Slendy kill you. Anyway, he decided to take us to Paris, so you both better go pack. And stop laughing at me!"

Neither did stop laughing as they left her home to go and do as she told them. She walked to her room to pack as well, fully intending to kick Slendy in the shin as soon as he came back. He was so evil!


	19. Chapter 19

A/N- I really hate writer's block…. Sorry for not updating as often as I normally do! D':

Ellaina was working on packing up a small suitcase when she found an odd vial of back liquid at the foot of her bed. She had never seen this thing here before. Perhaps it belonged to Slendy…or the dead woman lying on her floor. She really needed to do something about that body. While it would make an interesting conversation starter, it stunk rather badly.

Still, this black vial was interesting to her. She had no idea what its contents could possibly be. She turned it over, making sure that the small cork stayed firmly in place. The liquid inside slowly moved to the other end of the vial. Judging by this slow movement, whatever was inside this thing was thick. It was likely not meant to be consumed, so what was it for? Ellaina gave it a quick shake, which caused no reaction. She should have known better than to be playing with chemicals, what with her college education, but she wanted to know just what this stuff was.

_What are you doing? _that so familiar voice rang loudly through her mind. The vial was snatched from her hand by a tendril while his own hands grabbed hers, looking for any sign whatsoever of that horrible liquid being on her. He found none thankfully. He sighed, turning away from her and took the vial in his hand, looking at the stuff. He had never truly seen this chemical; he had only felt it enter and ruin him. _Didn't your mother ever teach you not to play with fire?_ Slendy asked her, his gaze still focused on the vial of black liquid.

"I never knew my mother," Ellaina replied, slowly coming to stand beside him to try and get another look at the odd, little vial. Clearly, the Slenderman knew what this stuff was. Perhaps he could explain it to her. She was always willing to learn. Still, the remark about her mother had stung a bit. Slendy was supposed to know all about the pasts of the people he followed. He should have been able to see what had happened to the woman. "My mother died when I was very little, three I think."

_Forgive me, _Slenderman replied. How could he have forgotten her history? With everything that had happened recently, it was hard to remember the time he had spent observing her, pulling knowledge from her to better be able to hunt her. Had he really planned on killing her just a short time ago? It didn't seem possible. He looked back to the chemical, destruction in a bottle. He could sense her thoughts. She wanted to know what this stuff was-to put it in her terms. _It is…a chemical from a lab for…genetic testing._ He laughed without emotion, his voice turning harsh. _Just inject it into your spine, and you can be just like me, my Little One. Well, you can have these things anyway. _A tendril ran its way around his arm, the end of it coming to rest at the end of the vial.

"I-I don't understand," Ellaina replied, looking from the black liquid and back to him.

He sighed with frustration, turning away from her. _No, I would not expect you to. You are too innocent, my Ellaina._ He knew that it wasn't right for him to act this way. He should be acting nice to her, especially if he planned on enacting his plan anytime soon. Slendy pocketed the vial, planning on destroying it later. He was not about to let anyone get their hands on it-being it for the person to suffer at the chemical's properties or for someone to make another suffer. He looked back at her, finding that she had gone back to her packing. _Are you angry with me?_

Ellaina sighed. "I'm not stupid, Slenderman. We humans are smarter than you think we are. You could try to tell me what that stuff is instead of just hiding it away. When will you ever trust me?" She stopped her packing to look back at him. She trusted her life to him, yet he could not trust her enough to tell her what some liquid in a bottle was? It didn't seem right. She turned back to packing.

_It is not a matter of trust. _He pulled the vial out once again, memories flashing through his mind as he looked into the depths of the inky liquid. Slowly, he came to stand beside her when he saw her struggling to close her suitcase. He held it down while she zipped it up, all the while being careful that the vial did not come close to her. He did not know what the effects of the liquid on skin could be, but he did not want to find out. When she sat down on the bed, Ellaina stared up at him as if expecting him to say something. She certainly could be persistent when she wanted to be. Slowly, he brought his hand to her face, covering it. _Open your mind, and know what this chemical is capable of. Know that I will not harm you. I will end this when you tell me._

Ellaina nodded slowly, allowing her mind to be open for him-well, she thought she was being open to him. She really did not know anything about controlling who could get into her mind or not. It seemed like she had done the right thing as she was suddenly standing in an odd room, a cage in the center of it. There, inside, was the Slenderman, or was it? He didn't have the tendrils, and as long as she had known him, those had been there.

A man came to a set of controls. It was Slendy's father, wasn't it? The man looked younger and a bit out of his mind as he began to flip switches and turn knobs. A device about the cage caught her attention. This thing-she didn't know how to describe it-had so many of those vials connected to it. That liquid began to be pumped into the child, who began screaming in pain, but only she could hear his torment as the black liquid entered him. She ran to the side of the cage, wanting to stop this torment in some way. That blank face met her, that all too familiar face. This was…him. He was reliving the memory as a way to show her what the liquid was.

"You don't need to do this," she stated, her hand reaching through the cage to take his. She didn't want to see this. She didn't need to see anymore. The black liquid was used for torture. There, she had the answer she sought.

Slendy shook his head, opting to lay face down in the cage. _This is far from o-over._

Ellaina thought that was the worst of it, the liquid pumping into his back, until those screams began once again, only this time they were filled with so much more agony. She managed to stay to witness two of the tendrils rip their way out of his back before she began to beg to be released from this-this vision of the past. She looked up at the Slenderman, whose hand had fallen back to his side. That chemical, the one she had been playing with, was responsible for causing him the worst pain he had ever known in his life. And now, he was holding it. It was no wonder that he was upset.

She was on her feet and without a thought, pulled him tight to herself. He had suffered so much pain in his life and from such a young age. Her mind did not want to process what he must have suffered growing up the way he did.

_Would you be willing to go to Paris now, my Little Ellaina? Surely, Anne would be ready to go by now?_ Slenderman asked, holding her out at arm's length. He really wanted to get the focus off of himself. This vacation was supposed to be for all of them, or so he had told them. Really, he meant it for Ellaina in order to go ahead with his plan. The sooner they could get there, the better.

"You honestly think she would be ready to go by now? Slendy, you should know Anne better than that by now. I'm sure we could find something else to do while we wait, like watch a movie," Ellaina replied with a laugh. The very thought of Anne being ready to go to a different country so soon was quite amusing. The girl would likely spend the majority of the day trying to pack. And, if Totheark was there with her, there was no telling when she would get done.

Slendy pulled her close to him once again. _Yes, I am sure we could find something to do, my sweet, Little One. May I finish what I started now?_ He did not wait for an answer as he closed what little distance was between them, kissing her. The tendrils trailed all over her body, finding small points which would make her sigh or gasp slightly. Her own hands slowly began to unbutton his suit coat and perfectly white shirt underneath it. She meant to go to remove the red tie only to manage to fall over something. Ellaina gasped, clutching at the tie. They effectively managed to land on her bed with him on top of her. Neither knew what to say, feeling nervous at the position they were in.

The bedroom door opened, revealing Totheark and Anne standing there, both carrying a suitcase and looking about ready to go. Both stopped to look at the scene before them. Ellaina merely stared at them with wide eyes over Slendy's shoulder. He slowly pulled himself up to his feet, turned to face them while straightening his clothing, and walked by them. He simply stated that it was time to go before he disappeared into the family room.

Ellaina quickly got to her feet, following after him and dragging her suitcase behind her. She was not going to let him get away with just walking away this time. She tried to keep her head high as Anne and Totheark followed behind her, only barely restraining their laughter. She found him sitting on the couch, acting quite innocent.

_Oh, you are all ready to go now? _Slendy asked, trying to distract Totheark and Anne. Surely the thought of going somewhere outside of America would be better for conversation than what they had walked in on? But, they hadn't walked in on anything. He was still innocent, and so was Ellaina. Nothing had happened.

Anne merely started laughing. "Oh, look who's acting like we're blind. I'm sure you and Ell will have lots of fun in Paris…"

"It is the city of _loooove, _you know, dad?" Totheark joked.

_If you two do not stop with your joking-_

"You'll what?" Anne questioned, smirking at him, knowing full well that he would never do anything to really harm them.

"He'll ground us," Totheark supplied, a wide smile coming across his face as Slendy glared at him. He laughed at the death glare. "Jeez, Slendy, if looks could kill, I'd be dead three times over."

Slendy looked at Ellaina, who was watching the scene with amusement written all over her face. He sighed. _You aren't going to make them stop, are you?_

"Nope. You get to deal with their jokes this time," Ellaina replied.

_How about I take us to Paris now and you two stop with the jokes? _He honestly could not understand why he was reasoning with them. He knew that he did nothing. Ellaina knew that nothing happened. He should be able to take their jokes and pay them no mind. Still, he didn't like it.

"He is such a party pooper," Totheark commented, picking up his suitcase once again, turning to face the two women. "He's always so serious."

"Why so serious, Slendy?" Ellaina and Anne asked in unison, coming to stand beside Totheark, bags in hand.

_I am going to guess that phrase is something from one of your movies you humans like so very much,_ Slenderman stated while coming to join them, a tendril wrapping around each of their wrists. _I suggest that you hold on. I can only hope you will all enjoy Paris._

They were gone from Ellaina's home, leaving no trace that they had even been there. Given a few days in France, perhaps Slendy's plan concerning Ellaina could work. He could only hope.

A/N- I made a Batman reference. Lolz. And I don't own Batman- Disclaimer, people! Anyways, you all got more fluff! Now, I am going to request your help again with plot. Don't worry, the story is almost over and your answer to this will finish the story. Pick a number: 1 or 2. My only hint is that one could be a happy ending or one could be a sad ending. Two could be a happy ending or a sad ending. I'm so evil. Don't worry, the positive/negative response you all gave me is going to come in very soon!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N- Yay! They finally made it to Paris. Oh, but you all are going to hate me as these chapters go on to bring us to the ending. Again, I need to know what you want: Option 1 or Option 2. Your hint is that one is a sad ending and one is a happy ending. If you know parallelism, you have the answer as to which option is happy and which is sad.

They showed up in an alleyway. No one had seen them show up and that was just how the Slenderman had wanted it. Showing up in the middle of a crowd, he had found, was not exactly something humans took well to. He had learned how to control this aspect of his odd powers as his life went on, and had learned how to control it perfectly. It was therefore odd to him to feel a pang of pain run through his heart upon arriving here. He simply wrote it off as stress caused by taking so many people along with him to a far off location. He certainly wasn't going to worry about it. No, he had other things to think of.

"We're in Paris!" Anne exclaimed, bouncing up and down. She grabbed a hold of Totheark, planning on dragging him all around the city to see the sights. Yes, they would look like hopeless tourists, but she didn't care. She had never been out of America, so she planned to make the absolute most of it.

_You are forgetting something, Anne, _Slendy stated, trying to get her attention before she ran off or tore Totheark's arm out of its socket. Just a short time ago, he would have been at the limits of his patience what with her behavior. How was it that he was now able to put up with her?

Anne sighed, turning to face him. She wanted to get going. It was surprising when she looked up at him to find the lower half of his face covered by a black scarf and a wide-brimmed fedora set at such an angle that it covered the top half of his face-well, what should have been a face. A long overcoat hid the tendrils. "You look human," she stated, sounding quite smart. She took the envelope he offered her and opened it to find a large sum of money and a passport. Her eyes went from this envelope to that of the Slenderman, watching as he gave the same envelopes to both Totheark and Ellaina. "Where did all of this money come from?"

_Don't worry about it, _came his cryptic answer. He was not about to explain to Anne how he would take money off of people that he killed. He had little use for it now that Totheark was living on his own, but he reasoned that he should keep their bills in case of a rainy day-or whatever the phrase was. Again, he really did not know the clichés of this world too well. _Now go on and enjoy the city. Have fun and try not to get into any trouble, Totheark. I cannot come bail you out of jail…again._

"Again?" Anne questioned the annoyed Totheark. He merely glared at the Slenderman before taking a hold of her arm and dragging her into the main street to become lost in the crowds of people. They had left behind their suit cases.

_I suppose they expect us to take of these? _Slendy questioned, picking up Anne's overly large, far too pink suit case with a tendril to examine it. The thing must have been heavy, for holding the thing up caused a pain to shoot through his back. But, that didn't make sense. He could pick up humans with no problem. He shook his head, writing it off again as stress. _Would you like to go to our hotel room to drop these bags off? _

Ellaina looked at him, her head tilted to the side. "How in the name of God did you get a hotel reservation in France?" She simply could not see him showing up in Paris, walking into a random hotel, and reserving a room for them.

Slendy crossed his arms over his chest. _I still sound human. I do know how to use a phone, you know. The man on the other end of the phone did not realize I was speaking into his mind. He simply heard a man asking for a reservation for two rooms-one for us and one for Totheark and Anne. _He knew it shouldn't irk him, that she thought him incapable of acting like a normal human. Still, it did and he could not understand why.

"Sorry," Ellaina replied. "I was picturing you walking into the hotel and making the reservation."

_Oh, that would have gone over well with the people of Paris. I could imagine the headlines that would cause. "Slenderman spotted in Paris making hotel reservations for self and friends. News for this story at ten. Meanwhile, let's have the local weather report with Jeff Schwartzenburger". _Slenderman replied, earning laughter from her. He internally smiled. Things were going fine so far, and he could only imagine how she would react to seeing the place they were going to be staying at. He picked up the suitcases, not allowing her to even carry her own. _Are you ready to go to the hotel now? We can look around the city afterwards. _

"Where are we staying?" Ellaina questioned, following beside him. It seemed so odd to be able to walk around in the crowded city with no one becoming fearful of him. His confident stride showed he had clearly used this disguise before. He merely gestured to a large building up ahead in response to her question. Her eyes went wide upon seeing it. A sign told her this place was called the Hotel Lutetia. He must have spent a small fortune to be able to reserve rooms here. Maybe he meant some other place, somewhere behind this place. This was far too fancy for him to take them to as just a casual vacation.

_Yes, that is where we are staying. Do not worry about the price. Our room has a view of the Eifel Tower, or so I was told, _Slendy stated while he took them into another alleyway. It would be much easier to just teleport them into their room, rather than going through the lobby, waiting on the elevator to bring them to the top floor, and then having to deal with getting the suitcases through the door. Yes, he was being lazy, but weren't people supposed to do that on vacations? He offered his hand to her, asking if she was ready to go. She took it, trusting him completely.

They appeared in the hotel room, which immediately captured Ellaina's attention with how luxurious it was. Looking outside, she could indeed see the Eifel Tower, just as he had said. She began exploring their suite, not noticing how the small trip to the room had affected the Slenderman.

Pain sat in his heart for far longer than it had the last time. A burning pain raked through his spine, making the tendrils twitch about. He sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to ignore the pain he was feeling. This was not something he was accustomed to. It was not something he expected to happen. Using his power had never caused him pain before. Still, he did not want to acknowledge the fact that there might be something wrong with him. He simply lay back on the bed, arranging the tendrils so as not to cause them any pain. It was a habit now, doing this before lying down. He didn't give a second thought to it.

"What do you want to do?" Ellaina asked, coming to stand at the foot of the bed in front of him.

He looked up at her, trying to ignore the pain and keep it from his voice. It would not do well for her to know of his pain. The last thing he wanted was her to be worrying about him. _Would you mind if I take a nap before we go exploring this city? You, of course, can go on your own if you wish to. Be careful if you do, though. I…wouldn't want to lose the one I love._ He looked away from her. It was so odd, this expressing of his emotions so openly to her. When they had met, he had never done this. He had never let her know what feelings he had for her.

Ellaina simply came to lie next to him, cuddling close to him. "I think a nap would be a wonderful idea. And you don't need to worry about me, Slendy. I'll be right here with you." She smiled at him as those familiar tendrils wrapped around her waist to hold her closer to him. She didn't mind this, him wanting to keep her close and safe. She certainly couldn't blame him what with the events they had so recently suffered through. He rested his head atop hers, and his breathing slowed to that of sleeping. When it appeared that no nightmares would plague him, Ellaina sent a quick text to Anne about where they were staying before joining Slenderman in sleep.

Slenderman awoke and sat up to the sounds of laughter. He looked around to spot Anne and Totheark sitting there on a couch, both red in the face. _What are you two laughing about? _Slendy asked, trying to sound intimidating. The last thing he wanted to deal with was them poking fun at him again concerning his position with Ellaina on the bed. He looked down on her, feeling the bed shifting as she forced herself to wake up. He tilted his head to the side, examining her face. There was a marker mustache drawn onto her face. Slendy looked back to Anne and Totheark, who were doing everything in their power to try and not laugh. Seeing permanent markers on the table in front of them, he had a pretty good idea as to what they had done.

Ellaina looked from her friends to the markers and then to the Slenderman. He refused to look at her, not wanting to hear her laughter. Still, when she tried to make him turn to face her, he allowed for it. She looked over the artwork her friends had done, trying not to laugh. There was a large smile drawn on his face, a large nose, and anime-style eyes. All of these designs were done in hot pink. She cleared her throat, trying not to burst into a fit of laughter like Anne and Totheark had. "Well, Slendy, you look very, very pretty." She lost her battle against the hilarity of the situation and began laughing along with her friends.

_This is not funny and I am NOT pretty, _Slenderman stated, pointing a finger at her to emphasize his point. This only caused Ellaina to flop back on the bed, laughing harder. His hands were covered in various sized purple polka dots. He stared at them for a long moment before turning to face the two on the couch. _I am going to kill the both of you if this-this filth doesn't come off. _He trudged off towards the bathroom, a tendril dragging along a still-laughing Ellaina. They were not about to go around Paris looking as they did.

Catching a sight of himself in the mirror, he groaned in annoyance. Ellaina looked at her reflection and began laughing all the more. "Come on, Slendy. We look funny, and they only meant this as a joke. Stop being so serious and laugh with us. Maybe that's why they drew a smiley face on you." She traced the outline of it, only for her hand to be caught by his.

_You think it's funny? _he asked, sounding anything but amused. He forced her hand to trace the outlines of the other designs before throwing her hand away from him. _You laugh about this, my lack of face? You think it funny for them to give me one? I do not need to be reminded of this-my lack of a face. I suffer with it every day of my life; have been suffering with it since I was a child. I was five years old when they did this to me, Ellaina. Do you know how this hurts, to not be able to express myself as you humans do so easily? No, you don't. How could you unless you lived it? _He grabbed up a washcloth from the counter, ran it under hot water, and began to scrub roughly at the marker designs. He pulled the cloth away to find the designs had only been smeared by his efforts. Slendy growled with irritation and threw the cloth away from him, giving up to simply lean against the wall and slowly slide down it.

Ellaina came to kneel beside him, a washcloth of her own with soap and water on it in her hand. She made him look at her while she brought the cloth to his face. When he did not protest her touch, Ellaina slowly began cleaning the marker away. "Soap tends to get the marker off quicker than just water, alone." she stated softly. She hadn't meant to upset him by laughing. She had thought he was just annoyed with the situation, not hurt by it. "Why would Totheark help in doing this if he knew-"

_I do not speak to him of what I feel, Ellaina. I am supposed to act as his father, remember? I could not very well speak to him of my emotions as he grew up. Why should I start now? _Slendy replied, taking another washcloth from the counter by way of a tendril. He ran the cloth under water and added soap to the mix. He began to scrub away at her marker moustache. This was not his plan for their time here. He did not want all of this tension, so he would have to change the subject. _Well, let's forget about this. There is no point in focusing on negative things. Would you like to see the Eifel Tower?_

"That would be fun," Ellaina replied with a smile, which only managed to make the soapy washcloth scrub her opened mouth. She immediately turned away from him, smacking her lips trying to get the taste of soap out of her mouth. She got up and went to the sink, grabbing up the plastic cup the hotel provided and filling it with water. She rinsed her mouth out.

Slendy came to stand next to her, the polka dots and designs gone but a sense of amusement still radiated off of him. He commented, _Yes, you are very lady-like, my Little Ellaina._

Ellaina glared at him and turned back to the plastic cup, filling it with water. She turned to face him, smirking before she splashed him with the water. She laughed with amusement, that is, until he grabbed her around the waist with one of his tendrils. He slowly made his way toward the bathtub, another tendril reaching out to start the water while another closed the plug to the tub. The water quickly began to fill up. She looked from the quickly filling tub and then back to him. He was going to dunk her. She tried to squirm free of his grasp, which only made _him _laugh.

As soon as the tub was filled, Ellaina found herself being dunked into it. She glared up at him, now completely soaked from head to toe. "You…you are evil."

_Am I? _He turned his back on her, planning on leaving the room. _I will leave you to your bath then, my little water nymph. _Slendy had planned on simply leaving the room to go yell at Totheark and Anne…and to try and figure out why it had caused him pain to pick up Ellaina. She weighed barely anything and he had never had trouble carrying her before. Maybe there was something wrong. He _had _planned on all of this, but those plans were interrupted. Ellaina had jumped out of the tub and had grabbed him, pulling him backward. Slendy managed to trip on something-the washcloth he had thrown-and went down with Ellaina. They managed to land in the tub, her on top of him.

"Got you," Ellaina joked, splashing him with some more water.

Slenderman would have retorted, had Anne not popped her head in the room. The girl wanted to ask what all of the commotion was. She paused upon seeing the position the two were in. She blinked a few times, before turning to leave. "I'll, um, just leave you two alone then."

_Nothing happened!_ Slendy protested, pulling himself and Ellaina out of the tub to stand in front of it. _She splashed me with water, so I threw her in the tub, and then she pulled me in. _Why did he find the need to explain what had happened and to Anne of all people?

"Whatever you say, Slendy. Maybe I should splash Totheark some. What do you say Ellaina?"

_I forbid it._

"Anne, get out of here! And…go for it, girl," Ellaina replied, leaning against Slendy. He glared down on her as the short woman left the room. She smiled up at him. "I love you, Slendy-kins."

_Never call me that again, and I suppose that I love you too. Now, we may want to get changed. I, personally, do not find wet clothing very comfortable. _Slender stated, leading them out of the bathroom. He stopped, seeing Anne and Totheark sitting on the couch. Anne had likely already distorted the story as to what happened. This certainly was not the image he wanted to present to the boy. _Why don't you two go to your own room, or go explore Paris? Is it absolutely necessary for you both to stay here?_

"I just like annoying you," Anne stated simply before getting up to collect her suitcase. They were staying just a few doors down from this room. She stopped at the door, Totheark close behind her, to look back at the wet couple. "You two have fun now."

_Out!_

Ellaina merely laughed as the two quickly fled the room. "Well, how about this: we get changed and then go see the Eifel Tower?"

_Alright,_ he replied, disappearing from her room. Ellaina looked around for a long moment only for him to suddenly come back. He was dressed in another black suit and red tie, though this one seemed to be a bit nicer than the ones he normally wore. She didn't notice the way his hands clenched into fists from the pain he was feeling. If it were up to him, she would never know the pain he was feeling. His plan was close to becoming reality. He was quickly becoming nervous as he waited for her to get changed, as he absentmindedly twisted the small container in his pocket. He could only hope that when he presented this trinket in the container to her at the Eifel Tower, when he went through with his plan, that she would answer in a positive way.

A/N- Holy long chapter! Do you all understand Slendy's plan now? If you do I bet you are glad you voted positive. If not, well, you will get to have a happy surprise soon. xD


	21. Chapter 21

A/N- One of my reviewers is finally getting what they have been waiting for. You other reviewers will finally know what Slendy has been planning. I'm trolling you with the ending though! And, Hotel Lutetia is a real place in Paris, France. I chose a hotel at random after a Google search of fancy hotels in Paris. I mean no harm in picking this hotel—disclaimer.

Ellaina finally came out of the bathroom, dressed in a black and red dress. She figured that she may as well dress nicely, considering that Slendy was dressed nicely. Then again, he always dressed this way-so formal. Honestly, she did not know why he dressed this way. Wouldn't it be easier to just dress like everyone else? Maybe he just liked to set himself apart from others.

He had been sitting on the bed when she came out of the bathroom. He came to his feet, looking her up and down as he did so. Ellaina had dressed quite nicely considering that they were only planning on going around the city. He enjoyed seeing her looking this way, but it did nothing to assuage his nervousness. For that matter, it only made it worse. He was far too close to putting his plan into action. They were only a short walk away from where he planned to put it into action, actually. Still, he internally smiled at her, wishing not for the first time that he could show her his emotions. Still, there was nothing he could do about that, so he ignored the thought. He knew better than to focus on such things. _You look nice, _he commented.

Ellaina shrugged, looking down at the dress. "I guess so." Self-confidence had never been something she possessed. Years of being poked fun at during her younger years had left her feeling like she was nothing special to look at. She felt his fingers under her chin, making her look up at him.

_Why do you define what you look like based on what others think? Even I do not do that. I'd like to think of myself as handsome, despite what the humans think of me. I know by human definitions that I am anything but handsome, but I do not care. I go by my own definitions. Certainly if I can do this, you can. You are beautiful, whether you believe it or not, _Slenderman stated. He still did not understand why humans insisted upon insulting one another. What did it gain them? They only managed to make another person feel bad. What was the fun in that?

She merely nodded, smiling slightly. Friends always tried to convince her that she was pretty, but her past still held control over her. It was a weakness that she knew she had to overcome, but it was not exactly easy. One could not simply erase years of ridicule and move on with life. Still, she didn't want to be thinking of the past. They were supposed to be having a vacation. They were supposed to be having fun. Ellaina replied, "Well, by my human standards you are handsome. Anyway, you said that we were going to the Eifel Tower?" She took a hold of his hand, using the other hand to gesture towards the door. "Lead the way, my good sir!"

_You are quite strange, my Little One, _Slendy replied, doing as she asked. He locked the door behind them and head toward the elevator. He could have just teleported them to the Tower, but that odd pain was something he wanted to avoid for the time being. It would not do well for them to show up there and him to collapse from pain. Ellaina need not know that something might be wrong.

Ellaina sighed, seeing a sign saying that the elevator was out of order. "Well, that's annoying. Oh well, the stairs are right here around the corner. We may as well take them." She headed off toward them, pulling the Slenderman along with her. She started down them, knowing full well that it would take them quite a while to get to the bottom of them, but she was not a lazy bum. A little bit of exercise was not about to kill her.

Slendy, however, did feel like being a lazy bum. They were on the top floor of this huge hotel, so he certainly did not want to deal with how long it would take them to get to the ground floor. He simply pulled her up into his arms and teleported them down to the ground floor, of course in a location where no one would notice them. Again, that pain came back to his heart and his back as he set her down. He ignored the pain though, as Ellaina had taken his hand again to lead them outside. He pulled her back into the shadows, telling her to wait a moment. She may see him as being normal, but the other people who lived in and visited this city would only see him as a monster. Again, he had to use that disguise from earlier to make himself look somewhat human. The disguise did not bother him, for it allowed him to be a part of the human world without them running away in fear. So long as no one paid him any special attention, no one would ever know he wasn't human.

"No one would ever know that you are any different from them," Ellaina stated, looking over his disguise and smiling at him. She sighed, her smile dropping upon realizing that this was likely another sore point for him. She smoothed out a part of the black scarf, but paused. "Is this-"

_Yes, it is the one you made me, _Slenderman stated, taking a hold of her hand to lead them from the shadows and to leave the hotel. He wanted to go through with his plan before anything else could happen. This pain that kept reoccurring was starting to become irritating. He would have to figure out some way to deal with it, but that would have to come later. He had other plans that he had to fulfill.

Ellaina looked all around them as they slowly made their way through the city and towards their destination. Everything was so beautiful, a city of lights. She likely screamed tourist, but she did not care. She was on vacation and planned to make the most of it even if that meant making herself look like a complete and utter fool.

Her distraction at the sights did not go quite so well. Ellaina managed to walk into the cart of a man who was selling cabbage. As the cabbage toppled to the floor and rolled into the busy streets to be destroyed by passing cars, the owner of the cart began yelling at her in French. Ellaina tried to apologize, though she knew nothing of the French language. It appeared that he knew no English. So, he continued yelling at her while she continued to say sorry. It was the Slenderman, yelling back at the man in French, which shut the two up. He pulled Ellaina away from the man, who was now crying over his lost and destroyed cabbages.

Ellaina looked up at him, surprised while he continued to lead their way. "I didn't know you speak French."

Slendy simply shrugged. _You never asked._

"Well, that's true. I guess it never came up for me to ask you, though," Ellaina replied, glancing up toward the stars. She smiled, laughing slightly. "Anne and Totheark tell me that you have never seen _Star Wars_. That is something I will have to fix."

He stopped to look at her. _The stars fight wars? Well, that is something I certainly did not know._

Ellaina laughed, shaking her head. She began walking down the sidewalk again, him following after her. "You silly man. _Star Wars _is the title of a movie. You must have at least heard of it. You know, Darth Vader and his famous 'I am your father' quote? May the Force be with you?" She began to hum the main melody.

_I have not seen many movies in my life, sadly. _Slenderman replied, though his thoughts about the movie were distracted upon seeing the Eifel Tower illuminated in front of them. It was said that it was best to see the Tower at night. Whoever had said this had not been lying. It was breathtaking and the perfect place to go through with his plan. He looked at Ellaina, who was staring at the Tower transfixed by its beauty. _Would you like to go to the top? I hear that the view is wonderful. _Seeing her merely nod, he led them to the destination.

The couple came to the top of the Tower, ignoring the other stops they could have gone to on their way up. The view was something that both found to be spectacular. They could see the entire city, shining in an innumerous amount of lights. The city certainly did deserve the title of "city of lights". Everything about the view screamed beauty.

Ellaina leaned over the railing, trying to look down to the ground below them. She found herself being pulled back rather quickly. She looked up at Slendy, smiling at him as he continued to hold her close to him and away from the railing. She found it sweet that he was so very protective of her. She did not blame him, of course. Death tried to take her away far too often, and she could understand that he would not want to lose her after everything they had gone through.

_Do you love me, Ellaina? _Slendy asked, pulling away from her to go and stand to look out at the city once again. When she replied that she did, he sighed with happiness. He still could not understand how or why she felt this way for him, but he was not about to complain about it. He had never known love in his life, and he was grateful that she was willing to show him that emotion. He pulled the small container from his pocket, not allowing her to see it. He pulled the trinket from inside of the container out, turning it over in his hand. _Why do women like jewelry? Diamonds are always trying to change to graphite. Gold tarnishes. Yet, women attach such great value to it. _

"It has to do with that value we have put on it. In reality of things, gold and diamonds have no true value. It is our culture that has made these things valuable. But, what do you mean about diamonds becoming graphite?" Ellaina replied.

_It has something to do with the chemical composition of it. The bonds in the diamond are always trying to break down and become that of graphite, but this is not supposed to be a chemistry lesson. I am supposed to have you here for a vacation, remember? _Slendy replied. He turned back to face her, hiding the trinket in his hand. He could feel nervousness coming back to him once again. It would not be long until he finally went through with what he had planned, why he had brought her here in the first place. He looked away from her, nerves making him unable to meet her eyes. He could not understand why she was able to make him feel this way. He had faced down Death on adaily basis with no fear, without becoming nervous. Slowly, he began, _You know that I care for you, don't you?_

"Of course," Ellaina replied, surprised by the way he was acting. He was never shy around her. He had always acted confident around her ever since they had met. Why would he suddenly be acting like this? She had given him no reason to be this way.

_I do not deserve to be a part of your life; I do not deserve to have you caring for me. You have been harmed on too many occasions because of your connection to me. I should just let you go, and move on with my life, but the thought of not being with you is unbearable for me. Human males likely do a better job at this then what I am doing. They likely speak of love, and life, and-_ Slendy began, not really knowing how to go about doing this. So much for this plan going well. It was quickly spiraling out of control and away from the original way he had planned on going about doing this.

"What are you talking about?" Ellaina asked, confused.

_I do hope that I am doing this properly, for I would not want to look like a fool, _Slenderman replied, finally looking into her eyes and coming to stand in front of her. It was time to finally go through with the last part of his plan.

Ellaina felt her heart skip a beat upon realizing what he was about to do. Now she understood why he had brought her here to Paris. Their vacation here _hadn't _been just for fun. It had a purpose, just like she thought it had. Her eyes went wide and her hands covered her mouth when he went down onto one knee, presenting her with a ring.

_I am very nervous about this, terrified really. But, I love you, and though it is selfish of me, I do not wish to live without you. Ellaina, would you marry me?_

A/N- Is this the worst cliffie I have ever left you with? I watched so many YouTube proposal videos before I finally was able to figure out how I wanted Slendy to go about doing his for Ellaina.


	22. Chapter 22

A/N- I feel evil for leaving you with that cliff hanger, so I am updating. Of course, the cabbage guy in the last chapter was a reference to Avatar: The Last Air bender. I do not own it. -_- And, Ellaina's answer is where your positive/negative votes come in.

Ellaina could not believe what was happening. Just a short time ago, the One in front of her had been promising to kill her for making her computer game. And now, he was asking her to marry him. It did not seem real; it felt like a dream. Any logical woman would turn him down and head for the hills. Well, any logical woman would have run away after her first encounter with the man. Logic had never been something that Ellaina liked, though. It had too many rules and standards to allow for fun.

It seemed odd that no one was up here with them. They were alone here; they had privacy here. Ellaina had a suspicion that Slendy had done this-somehow shut down the elevator so no one could bother them. She forced those thoughts from her head. She shouldn't be standing here thinking so deeply while he was there waiting for her answer. She managed to get out a "yes."

For a moment it seemed like Slendy had not heard her, as he looked away from her and began going on about how he wasn't good enough for her but how he would do his best to make her happy if she said yes. Then, her answer appeared to break through. He looked back up at her, surprised. He slowly stood up, in a daze, and put the ring on her finger. After a moment he came back to his senses. He picked her up in his arms, spinning her around. _You said yes! Ellaina, you said yes! _He may not know much of emotions, but he could certainly identify what he was feeling as joy. A part of him had been expecting her to say no to him. That part had nearly overwhelmed him while waiting for her answer. And now, she had agreed to be his. He wouldn't have to be away from her again. He would keep her safe and close to him. It did not seem possible for someone like him to be able to have a chance at something like this.

"I love you, my Slenderman. Did you doubt I would give you any answer other than the one you wanted?" Ellaina asked, smiling as he held her close to him. She heard the elevator doors open. It appeared that the elevator was now working again. She looked up at him, saying, "You made them stop working, didn't you?"

_Who, me? Of course not, my Ellaina, _Slendy replied, trying to act innocent. She didn't need to know that he had made the elevators stop working. He did not like crowds to begin with. The last thing he had wanted when he proposed to her was a crowd of onlookers. It was likely that at least one of them would have met a sticky end. He did not react very well when stressed, and a crowd would have just made things worse.

Ellaina had planned to retort in some way, knowing full well what he had done. She was, however, interrupted by a security guard rushing up to them. The man began going on and on in French, motioning from the now-working elevator to herself and Slendy. She did not understand a word of what he was saying, so she looked to her…fiancée. It was odd to think of him that way. Her thoughts turned to the need to buy him a wedding ring and herself a wedding dress. They also had to plan when to be married and where. She felt Slender leading her away to the elevator, the guard still following them and going on and on in his native tongue. Needless to say, it was the longest elevator ride Ellaina had ever had before they finally were able to get off and leave.

He began leading her through the town once again. It seemed that they had another location they were headed to. It was not the hotel, so Ellaina was rather confused. When she asked him where they were going, Slendy merely replied that it was a surprise.

"Oh, come on," Ellaina begged, "can't you give me a hint as to where we are going?"

_Hints would ruin the surprise, _Slendy replied, turning them down another busy street. He fished two tickets out of his pocket and handed them to her. He could deny her nothing, so he provided them as his form of a hint.

She looked them over; unable to read the French language, but then she seemed to remember something-she knew a very few words in French thanks to a novel she had read, a play she had seen once. She looked back at the neat, cursive lettering, and a smile came to her face.

_Have you figured it out, my dear?_ He should have known that she would be able to figure it out if he handed her the tickets. But, she had wanted to know what the surprise was, and he had been able to pick up from her mind that she did not like surprises. He knew better than to go into her mind any longer, but he couldn't help himself sometimes. Old habits die hard. He promised himself to break that habit, at least where Ellaina was concerned.

"I believe that I have, Slendy." Ellaina replied, looking ahead of them at the building they were slowly approaching. She had never seen this place, but she had certainly read enough about it. She was certainly glad that she had decided to dress nicely as she noticed other people dressed quite nicely entering the place. She looked back up at him, smiling brightly. "You, my wonderful man, have tickets for us to see a play at the Palais Garnier. How did you know I like opera?"

Slendy took the tickets from her, handing them to the man standing outside of the Opera House, and led them inside. He had reserved a box seat for them-had reserved the entire box in order to have some privacy. At the very least he would be able to remove the disguise and be comfortable. There was also the fact that he could kiss her if he wanted, but that was just a plus that came along as a plus with the privacy. He turned to face her, standing just outside of the door to their reserved box. _Anne told me you love this kind of entertainment, though I have no idea what it consists of. _He entered the box, pulling her along with him.

"Oh, well that makes sense. She-wait, what?" Ellaina replied, sitting down next to him in an overly comfortable seat. Clearly, he was spending quite a bit of money on this vacation. Still, why would Anne be telling him about the fact she liked Opera? She still didn't even know what they were seeing.

_I asked her what form of entertainment to take you to after asking for your hand. She said you liked Opera._ He wished that he could take his answer back. He had never planned on letting Ellaina know that he had discussed this with Anne and Totheark prior to coming to Paris. That's where he had gone off to when Ellaina had been changing into fresh clothing after the scene with his mother.

"She knew you were going to ask me to marry you and she didn't tell me?! I am so going to kill her when I see her again, or better yet, I'll let you kill her," Ellaina replied, glaring down at the stage for no real reason. She grabbed up the program of what was scheduled to be shown tonight. She blinked a few times, looking down on the title of the show before smiling. "Did you also ask Anne what my favorite play was?" She turned to face him, program still in hand.

_No, _Slenderman replied. It was really something he should have thought to ask. _I just reserved tickets for this show on a whim. Is this play not to your liking?_

"Not to my liking? Slendy, this play most certainly _is _to my liking: Le Fantome de l'Opera. It will be fun to see it in the language it was actually written in. Maybe it will follow the novel's plot line and Gaston Leroux can stop rolling around in his grave." Ellaina replied, unknowingly confusing the Slenderman with her response. Again, he really did not understand clichés so he had the image of a man in a graveyard rolling around in the dirt for no real reason. Ellaina, finally getting the impression that she had likely confused him again, sighed. "You have no idea what I just said, do you?"

_Not a clue. You know I do not understand clichés._

"Again, can you remind me why I put up with you?"

He took her hand, looking the ring over. _Well, perhaps the reason has something to do with the fact that you love me and have agreed to be my wife. _Still, he could not get over the fact that she had actually said yes to him. Maybe this was all a dream. If so, he did not want to wake up anytime soon.

"Or, maybe it has to do with the fact that I find you to be adorable?" she replied.

_I am NOT adorable._

"Yes, my dear Slenderman, you are." Ellaina smiled up at him as he crossed his arms over his chest, seeming none too thrilled with her. He removed the scarf and hat, tossing them to another chair along with the overcoat. She merely tilted her head to the side. "Trying to prove to me that you are scary and not adorable?"

_Most humans would be terrified by this point, yet you have never feared me. Why?_ He had truly never been able to understand her behavior. He remembered when they first met; she had been sarcastic, not believing he was truly…him. The only times he had seen fear in her eyes had been when he had killed the tormentor, when he had harmed her. Those memories, the ones where fear was in her eyes, were something that he didn't care to think on. But, she still hadn't truly feared him when they had met, and that had always confused him.

Again, she smiled and replied, "I don't fear you because you're adorable." Ellaina quickly realized that he was no longer joking with her. He was always so serious with her at the most random of times. She couldn't blame him though. It was likely quite rare for him to have anyone to speak to. She sighed, thinking over his question. Finally, she replied, "When we first met, I knew of your reputation and what you were capable of. If, and I was pretty sure you did, you had had the intention to kill me, I had known there was no way I would be able to get away, to fight you. There was no point in being afraid of the inevitable."

Slendy looked away from her, down to the stage where the musicians were warming up. He did not know what to say in response. She had resigned herself to death by his hand? No one had ever felt like this before he had taken their lives. They always felt fear; they always begged for their lives. She had expected to die because of him. He wouldn't kill her, but…hadn't that been his original intent, to kill her? The thought of killing her now seemed impossible. _The play is starting._ He said it more as a way to distract himself from his thoughts than to inform her about it.

Ellaina leaned into him, muttering that she wished she could understand what the characters would be saying. She, of course, knew what the storyline was, but it would still be nice to be able to understand what they were saying. Then she felt, something, something slipping inside her mind. As the first few lines began, she actually…understood. She looked up to Slendy. "Did you-"

_Yes. Now, let's see what happens in this play of yours. It will be my first_.

Intermission had finally begun. Slendy did not like this story one little bit. Why would this Christine character choose the Opera patron over the Phantom? The man in the mask was able to speak to her very soul. Surely, by the end of this play, she would end up with the Opera Ghost. He slowly forced himself to his feet, needing to stretch. Pain shot up his spine as he did so, though. He tried to ignore the pain, not let Ellaina notice his pain. Why did this pain keep coming to him?

Ellaina had noticed his hands clench with pain, though. "Are you alright?" She did not notice the fine lines of black that had begun forming under his white skin. He had not noticed either.

_I'm just stiff. Perhaps if I walk around a bit, it will help. _He turned to pick up the scarf and hat, putting them back into place along with the overcoat. It was too hot to wear them, but he had no other choice if he planned to go out amongst the people. He paused at the door, turning back to look at Ellaina who was just relaxing in the chair. _Would you like anything?_ Seeing her shake her head no, he left the box. He did not know where he planned to go, but he ended up in the restroom. Perhaps water could distract him from the pain?

He placed his hands under the steady stream of water though it did nothing to distract him from the pain in his back. It was annoying to him, this pain. Why did his body decide that it now had to give him this pain? Could this pain not wait until after the vacation? As he pulled his hands out from under the water and began to dry them with a paper towel, he took notice of his hands. The veins, the only normal thing about his body, were no longer blue but a dark, inky black…like the chemical that had made him into a monster. A sudden understanding came to him, though he did not know where this knowledge came from. The chemical had finally begun to work against his body; it had finally started to destroy him entirely. Slendy looked away from his hands, not wanting to acknowledge what this meant for him. He did not fear Death, but he did not want to leave Ellaina's side. She loved him, had agreed to be with him. How could he leave her alone in this world? He couldn't. There was nothing he could do to stop what was going to happen to him, so he would make the best of the little time he might have left with those who cared for him. He would not tell Ellaina of this, or Totheark, or Anne. No one need to know that he would soon be gone from this world.

A/N- I do not own Phantom of the Opera.—Disclaimer. I hope you liked this update.


	23. Chapter 23

A/N- You reviewers are making me want to change what I was going to do with the plot. RAWR! Maybe I'll just stick with what I had originally planned out. Xp

Ellaina knew that something was most certainly wrong. She could tell that Slendy did not want her to say anything about it though. He had returned to their box, not saying very much. He had simply sat down next to her, removed the disguise, and waited for the show to begin once again. He usually would say at least something to her when he was around her. She could sense that he was in pain, despite him doing his best to try and hide it. She could only hope that what he had said was true, that he was merely stiff from sitting idle for so long. He was, after all, more accustomed to moving around. She wanted to find some sort of logic behind his behavior.

Her thoughts preoccupied her from the show. She did not truly care what was happening with it any longer, though. Ellaina knew the plot well enough so she only half paid attention to it, really only listening to the music. Likely, she had nothing to worry about. Slendy did not get sick and she doubted that whatever was wrong with him could cause his death. The thought of him ever meeting Death was preposterous, right? If he were to ever die…no, she would not allow herself to think that way. der Ritter, der Groβman, did not die. He caused death, not fell to Death.

As her thoughts had kept her so busy, she had not noticed that the play had come to the final lair scene. The cry of agony from the Phantom did capture her attention, though. He had allowed Christine to leave with Raoul. Slendy crossed his arms over his chest, she noticed. It did not appear that he was happy with the play as it came to a close-Meg finding the masque and the music and light fading out with her. Slendy turned to look at her as the lights came back on and the crowds below them began to clap. _Why would he let her go?_

"He cared more about her happiness than his own feelings for her. He knew that she would not be happy with him, so he let her leave with the one who could make her happy," Ellaina explained, looking down on the stage as the actors took their bows.

_Would you be happier with someone else, someone human? _Slendy asked, voice quiet as he looked her over. She was too good for him. What right did he have to ask for her hand in marriage? And now with this chemical slowly killing him, he knew that he should just break things off and leave. It would cause her pain for him to leave, but it would be better than the pain she might feel upon seeing him die. Her "dying" in his arms had nearly destroyed him. No one should need to feel that pain.

Ellaina looked at him, an unbelieving look on her face. He could not still think that she didn't want him. She made it so obvious that she cared for him, loved him. "You really are stupid, Slenderman, if you think that way. I wouldn't have agreed to be yours if I wanted someone else." She stood up and turned to leave the box, not happy with him. Why did he doubt her so much? She was not going to betray his trust like his parents had. She would never hurt him, not intentionally anyway. She felt his light touch at her arm, but she pulled away. "No, Slenderman," she growled, glaring at him. "Why don't you trust what I feel for you? Why don't you trust me?"

_I do trust you, my Ellaina. I doubt myself, not you. Years of being…like this, _he gestured to the blankness of his face, _have made believing others where their feelings for me are concerned difficult. Please, don't be upset with me. I meant to bring you here for fun, not this-this angst, but I suppose I am good at causing that. _Slendy turned away from her, putting the disguise into place once again. He did not mind wearing this disguise, for it allowed him to be amongst the people without hearing their screams of terror. Those screams had never ceased. Anyone who saw him screamed and ran. They only saw him as a monster. The disguise let him feel normal.

She sighed, shaking her head. "It's getting late. Maybe we should just go back to the hotel." Ellaina would not look at him, but she did allow him to take her hand and lead them to the exit of the Opera House. They were one of the last couples leaving. She was not going to let him get off so easily this time. She was upset with him, even though she knew she should just drop it.

There was a man posted at the exit for security. There had been a man running around Paris killing people. The killer always dressed formally and kept his face hidden. Now, the killer's disguise was nothing special for any man could dress like him and not be the killer. So, as a precaution, any man who matched the killer's description was asked to show his face. The Police Nationale knew what the killer's face looked like, for they had nearly caught the man on one occasion. This security man noticed this last couple coming to them and asked them to stop.

"Is there a problem, sir?" Ellaina asked, surprised that this guard knew English. Was it that obvious that they were not from France? They must scream tourist or something.

The man smiled slightly. "No, Madame. We have a killer on the loose who matches the description of your partner." The man turned to face Slendy, who was none too happy with how things were turning out. The man continued, "If you could just show me your face, sir? It is just standard procedure, you understand."

"He isn't your killer," Ellaina stated, knowing that this could go badly very quickly. She took a hold of Slenderman's hand and tried to lead them around the man. Her grip on his hand was removed when the man pushed his way between the two. Hearing the man gasp in fright, Ellaina had a pretty good idea as to what had happened. She turned to find the black scarf falling from the man's hand, a look of utter terror on his face.

"What-what are you?" the man questioned, backing away as this-this thing came toward him, looking to be irritated. He had no way to escape with the woman standing in the doorway. He turned, trying to push her out of the way in order to run. He had to alert someone that there was something far worse than a killer in Paris. There was no telling what this monster could do to people. He did not get the chance to run, though, as he felt something wrap around his legs. He fell to the floor and was pulled back toward the monster. He found himself being held high in the air, upside down. The creature had somehow become taller. He was looking into the blank face of the monster. The man would have screamed had not another one of the things around his legs wrapped tightly around his face.

_Do not scream; it will not help you, _a voice entered the man's mind. His eyes became wide upon realizing that this voice came from the monster. He began to thrash about, trying to get free from the vice like grip. _You will not escape. Why bother struggling, Human?_ The man stopped cold. This thing was going to kill him, wasn't it? He closed his eyes, resigning himself to the fates as he felt himself being carried away. His last thoughts would be of his wife and son.

Ellaina stood at the doorway, waiting for Slender to return. She did not like the fact that the man was going to be killed, but nothing could be done. He would have alerted half of Paris of the Slenderman's presence here. She had to wonder if this would be what her life would be like when she would begin living with Slendy. Would he always need to kill in order to keep himself safe? Then, she realized that he had likely been doing so his entire life.

Slendy slowly made his way back to where he had left Ellaina. The security guard was dead, but causing his death had not been something he enjoyed. The pain that had become a constant had becoming all the worse as he killed the man. Just holding the man up had been agony. He looked down on his hands, seeing that the black chemical had become more visible in his blood. Every little vein was black and visible against his white skin. He was forced to acknowledge the fact that this chemical would quickly overtake the rest of his blood and take his life by extension.

It was not fair. He had finally found a place in the world, had finally found love and happiness, and now he was going to leave this world. His blasted mother would even ruin his life from her lowly grave. She had destroyed his life all of those years ago, and now she would be ending it because of her damnable chemical. He growled in irritated frustration, turning to take his anger out on a wall. He was met with a mirror, something he would normally never pay any attention to. But, he paused at the sight that met him and fear came to him. The veins and the arteries, the only human part of him, were visible against his blank face. They were black, the same black as his hands, the same black as the chemical. He looked away with a half sigh, half sob, placing his face into his hands. Why did this have to happen now of all times? Why couldn't it have happened before he met Ellaina and found love with her? Fate could not be so cruel as to force him to leave this world after only just finding Ellaina. He did not want to die. He wanted to live, for he had someone that needed him, someone that he had needed for so long. For once in his life he wanted to go where life would lead him and he knew he would be strong. There was no way to beat the chemical, though. His dreams of leading a normal life with Ellaina were ruined and broken beyond repair. His mother had wanted him dead, and it appeared that she would finally get what she wanted.


	24. Chapter 24

A/N-I'M SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING! Okay, no more cap locks spamming for me. Yeah, I blame Slender Sickness for my lack of updates. Forgive me. -_- Stupid health…

Slendy slowly made his way back to Ellaina. He refused to allow her to know what was wrong with him. He need not bother her with the fact that the chemical was…no, he didn't want to think about it himself. Avoiding the problem wouldn't solve it, he knew, but this was supposed to be a vacation from problems. He could focus on the chemical that was slowly destroying his blood once they got home, well, if he lasted that long.

He picked up the discarded scarf with a tendril and put it back in place as he approached Ellaina. He could not very well allow her to see what was happening to him. It was hard enough trying to hide the pain from her; she need not see what was causing it.

"I'm guessing the security guard is dead?" Ellaina questioned casually as he took her hand and led them outside. She did not like the idea of the man being killed just because he saw something that he shouldn't have. There had to have been a better way to deal with him. Slender knew how to enter people's minds. Couldn't he have just erased the man's memory?

Her thoughts were rather loud, making them easy to pick up on. This trip to the Opera House had gone all wrong. This was supposed to be something fun for her, a way to celebrate their engagement. Instead it had turned to something foul. _I didn't have a choice, Ellaina._

"I don't believe that," Ellaina replied, not looking at him. She was focused on trying to find the way back to the hotel. "There had to have been something you could have done. You can go into people's minds. Why not just erase his memories?"

_Must we stay focused on this? I brought you here for a vacation._

"Yes, you brought me here for a vacation, and you've killed someone."

Slenderman stopped, pulling her into an alleyway. He pulled the scarf away as well as the fedora, not really stopping to think. The light here was low, but she would most certainly be able to see his face, but he hadn't realized that. _You knew full well what you were getting involved in when-_

"What's wrong? Are you sick?" Ellaina asked, all thoughts of her anger at him going away when she saw his face. It was not the pure white that she was accustomed to. Her hands slowly came up to trace the lines of black that were scattered across his face. There was something very wrong about how they felt. They were hot to the touch, hard to the touch. When he pulled her hands away, saying it was nothing, that only confirmed it. Something was indefinitely wrong. "Slenderman, what-what's happening? Tell me the truth."

How was he supposed to tell her that he was dying? He could not bring himself to do so. He had felt what it was like to watch someone that was cared for die. There was no way he was going to let her go through the same pain. He would need to tell her something, though. _It is nothing you need to worry about, my Little One. This will pass in time. _It was a lie, but it seemed to put her at ease. But, would it make it worse for her not to know the truth when the time did come? He could not bring himself to tell her though. Footfalls pulled his attention away from his thoughts. Someone was coming toward them, a gun drawn. The man did not get the chance to harm either. The couple disappeared, leaving behind a very confused killer.

Slenderman knew that he should not have teleported them away. Anytime he did this it caused him pain. This time, though, the pain was far worse than anything he had felt before. He tried to ignore it, but that was not working. This pain was something worse than anything he had ever felt, far worse than when he had been made into a monster. He sat down heavily on the bed, breathing hard, but still trying to hide it from Ellaina.

He was not doing a very good job at it. She was at his side, asking what was going on. She was able to sense the pain he was going through, and it made her sick. She knew that he had to be lying about what was going on. This could not possibly be normal for him. Never had she seen him suffer like this before. Then again, she really hadn't known him that long. Perhaps it was normal and she had simply never been around to observe it. That did not make it any easier to watch him suffer, though.

Well, she knew that he was in pain. The look of concern on her face and her continued questioning of what was wrong certainly confirmed it. He should have known that she would find out eventually. Still, she did not need to know what the real cause of the pain was. She could remain blissfully ignorant. She would be able to remain at least somewhat happy that way, he figured. Slendy still did not want her to see him this way, though. He always had been strong in front of her; she need not see him in this weakened state. There had to be some way to have her leave him alone. Then, he had a wonderful idea.

_Ellaina, I have a request for you, _he stated, trying his best to keep the pain from his voice. He was failing miserably.

"Anything," she replied. It was rather annoying to her that he still hadn't told her what was wrong. There had to be a reason why he was feeling this way.

_Go stay with Anne for the night._

"What?" Ellaina replied, completely confused. Why was he sending her away when he was in so much pain? She should stay here to try to help him. If she could not ease the pain, the very least she could do was be here to offer him comfort. "Why?"

He forced himself to sit up, ignoring the pain-which was lessening in its intensity, thankfully. At the very least, the pain had returned back to its now-normal level. Slendy replied, _Anne says that the bride to be must spend twenty-four hours away from her future husband before they are to be wed. I would like to marry you tomorrow. _He figured that sooner was better than later. There was no way to tell just how long he had left, and he did not want to die before making her his wife. Again, he knew that he was being selfish, but he just could not help himself.

Ellaina looked at him for a long moment, before smiling and hugging him, completely and utterly forgetting that he was in pain. She looked up at him, kissing his cheek. "I love you. But, I have so much to do now!" She got up from the bed, making her way to the door. "Anne and I will need to go shopping tomorrow. I'll need to buy a dress and get you a ring and…" Her face dropped.

_What is it? _Slender questioned, forcing himself to his feet to come and stand in front of her. He brought his hand to her face. He preferred to be focused on her rather than his pain.

Ellaina wouldn't look at him, rather embarrassed by the whole thing. "It's nothing."

He made her look up at him, searching her face. _Come now, tell your Slenderman what is wrong. You know I will find out what it is._

She wouldn't look him in the face, focusing on his tie instead. "Well…"

_Look at me and tell me what is wrong, my Little One, or I will need to punish you._

Ellaina looked up at him, tilting her head to the side and laughing slightly. "Punish me?"

He came forward, making her step back until her back came against the door. His tendrils came out, trailing over her back to find those little areas that made her sigh and tremble. His hands slowly moved up her body, coming to cup her face. He began kissing her with fervor.

Ellaina sighed, surprised by his actions. This was not what she had been expecting when he said he would need to punish her. Then again, if this was what he considered to be a punishment, she would most certainly need to be naughty more often or not tell him what he wanted to know more often. She brought her own hands to his face, tracing the dark black lines, not really knowing what that blackness was. Her cold fingers against the hot flesh made him press her closer to him.

Slendy pulled away from her, needing to before things got out of hand. _Tell me what is wrong, or I will not touch you again._

She glared at him. "Oh, really?" She came forward, her hands working at unbuttoning his suit coat. He allowed her to slip it off of him, keeping a close watch on her actions. She next went about trying to remove his tie. After some struggle, in which Slendy only laughed at her attempts, Ellaina managed to remove it. Her hands slid up his chest slowly, coming to stop at the top most button of his shirt. She unbuttoned it and went to the same to the next button.

His hands stopped her, holding both of her hands tight in one of his. _What are you doing? _It was not like he didn't enjoy this, but there was no telling if the chemical was visible on the rest of his body. He knew that it may not bother Ellaina, but he did not want to see it for himself as he knew what it meant for him.

Ellaina smiled up at him, trying to free her hands from his grip. "You may not want to touch me, my love, but _I _want to touch you."

Gods, how tempting it was-how tempting _she _was. He would not go for it though. _You will have all the time you wish to touch me on our wedding night_, he replied softly, letting her hands go.

She blushed scarlet, pulling her hands back to herself. She hadn't been talking about…well, that. She had only meant that…she shook her head. Ellaina was embarrassed, not even able to look at him. He must think her to be just like any average woman. "I-I didn't-I wasn't talking about _that._"

Slenderman laughed. _Hmm, and what would _that _be, my sweet?_

Her eyes went wide. "You-you know what I'm talking about. Don't-don't make me explain it!"

_The way I see it, you have two choices. As you know I do love knowledge. You can either explain what you mean or tell me what had you preoccupied before this little intimacy started. _Slendy internally smiled. Either way, he would win. She could either try to explain what _that_ was-he knew full well what it was-or he could learn what had been bothering her.

Ellaina crossed her arms over her chest. "You are so evil. Fine, I'll take your second options because I know you understand the first." Hearing him chuckle only made her growl at him. "You say you want to marry me tomorrow. I don't have enough money for a dress and a decent ring for you."

_Is that all it was, money?_ Slendy replied, surprised. He picked up his suit coat, pulling out another one of those envelopes. _Here, take this. It should be enough._

She looked into the envelope and quite nearly passed out upon seeing how much money was inside. Her eyes went from the money and back to him. She took the suit coat from him, looking it over, turning it around to look at it from all possible angles.

_What are you doing? _Slendy asked, perplexed by her actions.

Ellaina looked back up at him, tossing the suit coat onto a near-by chair. "I was trying to find the bank you hide in your pocket." She shook her head, smiling. She turned to the door, knowing that the sooner she left, the sooner the twenty-four hour waiting period would start.

_I don't get a good-bye? _Slendy questioned, using a tendril to grab her wrist and stop her at the door. When she stopped and turned back to face him, he came to her. It still did not seem real, that this wonderful human woman was willing to be his. He stole a quick kiss, before telling her to get going.

A few hours had passed, in which Slendy had managed to doze off, when a knock came at the door. He woke up, none too thrilled with someone waking him. He looked at the clock, seeing that it was three in the morning. Who in blazes came to visit at this ungodly hour? He forced himself to his feet and went to the door. Slendy could sense who it was: Anne. Groaning in annoyance he opened the door, not bothering to hide his face and pulled her inside.

_Why are you here? _Slendy questioned, not bothering to turn on any lights. He headed back to the bed, lying down on it. He was tired, an odd concept for him. He blamed the chemical.

Anne sighed happily. "I'm here for the same reason Ellaina is staying with Totheark."

It took him a moment to process that. When it did come through, he sat up. The lights came on of their own accord-well, he made them inadvertently turn on. _He asked you to marry him?_

She blinked against the sudden light. "Well, yeah, he kinda had to. I am pregnant with his kid."

_Oh, well that makes sense. _Again, it took him a while to understand what she had just said. Then, it fully came to him-the meaning of her words. He was on his feet now, not really knowing what he planned to do. There were too many emotions warring inside him. He did not notice the way Anne looked at him when she saw his bared chest-he never slept in a shirt. _I am going to kill that boy. I taught him better than this._

"Slenderman, what's wrong with you?" Anne questioned, trying to get through to him. She had seen him before without a shirt. His skin had been pure white, and now it was not. What should have been normal veins and arteries were now black. It was not normal.

His thoughts were preoccupied, so he spoke the truth. _I am dying. The chemical is destroying my blood, but that doesn't make any difference. You-_

"What?! You-you're dying? Does Ellaina know? Does Totheark know?" Anne interrupted him.

He froze. What had he just done? No one was supposed to know. They were all supposed to remain ignorant of this knowledge. It was too late now, though. He could just erase her memory of this, but that didn't seem like the right thing to do. He replied, allowing the pain from the chemical to come through in his voice, _Please do not tell them, Anne. Please?_


	25. Chapter 25

A/N- So, I finally figured out how I will end this. You all are really going to hate me. But, that hate will come later. On with the story, for now!

_Please do not tell them, Anne. Please?_ He had to wonder how it had come to this, asking Anne of all people not to do something. Really, Slendy had to wonder how he had become so involved in the human world in the first place. He had killed humans on a daily basis and now he had befriended them. Nothing seemed to make any sense any longer.

"Not tell them?" Anne questioned, sounding surprised. She looked over his exposed skin before bringing her eyes back up to meet his face. The way he was holding himself was different. He was not the normally strong, indomitable force that she was accustomed to. She could tell just by the way he was standing that he was in discomfort. "They both deserve to know what is going on, Slendy. Totheark is like a son to you; he more or less considers you to be his father. He needs to know what is going on at the very least, if you refuse to tell Ellaina, though she deserves to know too. How can you expect me to not tell them?"

_Have you ever had a loved one die in your arms? _he questioned quietly. When Anne merely shook her head "no", he sighed._ I would not think you had. The pain of it is unbearable. When you came searching for Ellaina, I had thought her dead. She had asked me to…kill her for she was suffering from a poison. I did as she asked. I was miserable, and there had been no way to escape the pain her loss created. Anne, I wanted to die if only to escape the torment her death caused me. Do you truly want them to suffer that?_ He tried to ignore the memories that came flooding back to him, of her cold body lying seemingly dead in his arms. If he had only known she was alive, she could have avoided all of the pain his father had put her through. It was too late to go back now, though, so he forced the thoughts and the memories from his mind.

Anne her fingers through her hair, frustrated. "Fine, Slender, I won't tell them. But-but you are the Slenderman. der Ritter…der Groβman. You don't just die! You can't die!" Emotions dictated her actions now, causing her to move forward and pull a surprised Slenderman into a tight hug. She buried her face into his chest, sobbing. Around sobs, she managed to force out, "The Slenderman does not just die. You have to promise me that you will live."

He had not been expecting this. He had never been particularly nice to Anne, and for some unknown reason she cared about him. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he was involved with her friend. Or, maybe she was just crazy. Slendy honestly was not very sure, though he would place his bets on the latter. And if this was how Anne was reacting to this knowledge, he could only imagine how Ellaina and Totheark would react. It likely would not be pretty. He slowly brought his arms around her, patting her back slightly. _Anne, there is nothing I can do about this. There is no way to stop it, no matter how much I want to. As a man of my word, I cannot keep your promise._

She looked up at him, determination on her face. "You won't die on us. You are stronger than this; I know you are! Fight it." Her mind seemed to come up with an idea. "Wait a minute! Can't you just have Ellaina heal you, or whatever it's called?"

_It would not work. The healing does not do anything to help the blood._

Anne's face fell, hopes dying. She leaned her forehead on his chest, sobbing slightly. "Slendy, you can't just die on us. Ellaina loves you. She will be a mess without you. She's never known love. You were the first one to show her love. You can't just leave her alone in this world. And Totheark and I want you to be the godfather of our baby. Dying now…it's just….you can't! Please, don't die!"

_Anne, it is late. You need your sleep. _Slenderman did not like being the focus of her attention. It was something he was unaccustomed to. She would normally annoy him just for the fun of it, as she said. Her being so upset over his condition was not something he had been expecting. And she likely did not care two hoots about him. Again, he could only imagine Ellaina's reaction or Totheark's. He held her out at arm's length, trying to think of a way to calm her. _How about I promise not to die anytime soon?_

Anne sniffed, trying to force a smile onto her face. She stuck her hand out to him. "Shake on it then. If you break your promise, I'll kick you so hard that you'll come back to life just to kill me."

Slender laughed, though he had no idea why she was offering her hand to him. _As tempting as the offer is, I do not believe I would come back to this existence only to kill you._ Seeing as her hand still hadn't been retracted, he finally got the meaning of her words. A handshake, that's what she meant. He would really need to learn some of these typical human things before he died. After the handshake, Anne headed over to the bed and plopped down onto it. He came to stand at the end of the bed, glaring down on her. _What are you doing?_

"You can't very well expect a pregnant woman to sleep on the couch, can you?" Anne replied, snuggling into the overly-soft bed.

_How did this happen, anyway? How in the name of God did he get you pregnant so quickly?_

Anne smirked up at him. "Well, you see Slendy, when a mommy and a daddy love each other very much-"

_I know the mechanics of it! _Slenderman interrupted, not really wanting to have a biology lesson at the moment. He could only imagine how Anne would go about explaining it. Giving Totheark "the talk" had been bad enough. He did not need Anne to tell him about it. He would much rather allow the chemical to kill him now than to have to listen to her explanation.

She began laughing. "You are always so serious."

_Go to sleep, Anne. _He replied, sounding none too thrilled with her. He made his way over to the couch. It certainly would not be a comfortable place to sleep, but he would not complain. He most certainly had slept in worse conditions. He curled up onto the couch and made the lights turn themselves off. He always found it enjoyable that he could affect electricity, though it did tend to terrify the humans.

"Slenderman?" Anne questioned, looking up at the ceiling in the dark.

He sighed, wanting to go to sleep already. _What is it?_

"You know that I can't fall asleep without hearing a story." Anne replied, the smile clear in her voice. Even though she was concerned about his health, she could not resist messing with him. She found it to be far too enjoyable.

Slendy groaned. _I hate you, child. I really hate you, you know that._ It seemed that he would never be free of her need to annoy him. It was simply lucky for her that he had built up his patience where she was concerned. Were it another time, he would have already splattered her against the wall.

"No you don't. Besides, you can't very well hate your soon to be daughter in law." Anne countered, laughing slightly. "Now come on. You know the deal. I will either keep talking until I fall asleep or you can tell me a story."

_Don't remind me of that little fact. You want a story? Fine. There once was an ugly barnacle. He was so ugly that everyone died. The end. Now, go to sleep. _Slenderman replied before shifting on the too small couch so his back would be to her.

Anne sat up from the bed. "That was a horrible story! Come on, I know you can tell a better bed time story than that. Why don't you tell me the story of 'Beauty and the Beast'?"

_I do not know that story. Now, go to sleep._

She gasped audibly. "You never watched or read the story? Oh, Slendy, I am going to need to fix that little problem." Anne got out of the bed, stumbling around until she found a switch to turn the lights back on. Ignoring Slendy's groaned mutter of protest, Anne came to the couch. She pushed his legs off of the couch and sat down in the vacated area.

_What are you doing? It is the middle of the night. I do not need a bedtime story to go to sleep. _He growled, forcing himself to sit up all the while glaring at her. He honestly could not remember the last time he had heard a bedtime story. He had told them to Totheark when the boy was young, but Slendy could not honestly remember the last time someone had told him one. Had anyone ever told him one? Truly, he could not remember his parents ever telling him one when he had been young. Then again, he tried not to remember those times.

Anne rolled her eyes. "I'll give you another set of choices. Listen to my story-well, technically I don't own it-or I'll go tell Ellaina and Totheark what is wrong with you. I should tell them regardless, but you might kill me if I do."

_I would not kill you especially considering you are with child .Just tell me your story so I can go back to sleep. And, please don't tell them. They should not suffer because of me. _Slendy replied.

"Fine," she replied as she made herself comfortable on the couch. "Now, it is time for your story because I will not allow you to leave this world not knowing 'Beauty and the Beast'. No, wait a minute. Do you know any Disney movies?"

_What is Disney?_

Anne facepalmed. "It is going to be a loooong night, Slendy. Alright, we'll start with 'Beauty' and work our way through the movies."

_I hate you. I really, really hate you. I should be asleep, not putting up with you._

"Love you, Slendy," Anne countered. "Now let's start this. Once upon a time…"

A/N- I made a reference to _SpongeBob_, which I do not own of course. Same can be said for Disney. Now, I am going to start on the next chapter while Anne has story time with Slendy. xD


	26. Chapter 26

A/N- I'm listening to Disney music and writing a Slenderman story. What is wrong with me?

It was now six in the morning. Anne was still going on with her stories, despite how many times the Slenderman asked her to stop. He had even promised to listen to them another time if she would only stop talking and let him go to sleep. She had refused, of course, saying that he had to have an all night study session on the Disney Universe. She was currently telling the story of _The_ _Lion King_ when a knock came at the door.

_I'll answer it, _Slender stated, quickly getting up from his position on the couch.

Anne jumped up, running by him. "You can't answer the door, silly. What if it's Ellaina?"

_Odd that your only concern is for her and not the possibility that it could be someone else standing out there, _Slendy commented, allowing her to go to the door. When Anne heard someone on the other side say it was Ellaina, she immediately ordered the Slenderman to hide away. She started going on and on when Slendy protested against needing to hide from Ellaina. If only to shut her up, he headed into the bathroom.

Ellaina slowly entered the room, looking everywhere to make sure Slendy was nowhere in sight. She did not want to spend another night away from him, and there was the fact that she was overly excited about the fact that she would soon be getting married. She did not want to wait any longer. Still, she wished that she could see him. Never would she have guessed that this was what love could feel like-the need to be with the loved one all of the time. Her attention turned to her friend now, though, who was all a mess. "Annie, I thought we promised to get going at six. You're all a mess."

Anne stuck her tongue out at her friend. "Don't call me that, Ell. You know I don't like that nickname. And I was telling Slendy Disney stories. The time got away from me." She turned and walked toward the bathroom, saying she'd get ready now.

"Disney?" Ellaina questioned, following her friend toward the bathroom. Helping Anne in the bathroom would make things go quicker. It was a fact she had learned over the years. Helping her could make the normal process which took five hours go all the way down to three.

The shorter of the two women turned to face her friend, blocking her way to the bathroom. "So sorry, my dear, but you don't get to help me out today."

Ellaina crossed her arms over her chest, an eyebrow arching. "And why is that, honey?"

"Weeellllll," Anne replied, smiling in a way to make Ellaina laugh, "your fiancé is hiding in the bathroom. But don't worry; I'll have him help me out. I'm sure he would be willing to help me do my hair. Do you think he knows how to do a French braid?"

_I am NOT doing your hair, _came an indignant reply.

Anne looked to the door and then back to Ellaina. She whispered, "Do you notice how he doesn't deny knowing how to do my hair?"

Ellaina began laughing. "Well, I guess we learn something new every day."

_I can still hear the both of you, whether you whisper or not. And I have no idea how you women do your hair. _Slenderman replied, still sounding annoyed. He did not want to hide out in the bathroom, but teleporting somewhere was out of the question. He did not want to have to put up with that gut wrenching pain again.

Anne came bounding into the room. She grabbed up a hairbrush and began to pull it through her hair, not saying much to Slendy. Her focus stayed on what she was doing. It was odd that she no longer feared the Slenderman, that she could be comfortable enough in his presence to do her hair.

"So," Ellaina stated, hoping her voice was loud enough for the two in the bathroom to hear but not loud enough to wake anyone up, "you were teaching Slendy about Disney? How did that topic come up? Wait, let me guess. You needed a bedtime story and wanted him to tell you 'Beauty and the Beast'? Am I right?"

_How would you know that? _Slenderman questioned, confused. Had she somehow picked up some of his powers? It didn't seem likely, but she knew what had happened. He always knew what recently happened in people's lives if he chose to look for that information. Could it be that Ellaina had learned to do the same?

Ellaina laughed. "He's deep in thought, isn't he Anne?"

Anne looked at him and laughed along with her friend. "Yep."

Slender crossed his arms over his chest, annoyed. _Will you answer my question, Ellaina?_

"You are always so serious, Slendy," Ellaina joked. "Anyways, I know that little Miss Anne likes to hear a story before she goes to bed. Believe me, I would know. She's spent enough nights at my home to make it common knowledge for me. I also know that her favorite Disney movie is 'Beauty and the Beast'. It is elementary, my dear Watson."

_Who is Watson?_

Anne shook her head. "Ellaina, you really need to educate your man."

Ellaina laughed, making her way from the bathroom door and over to the couch. She planned to simply watch television until Anne was ready to go. She still found it odd that she could understand what the people were saying. However Slendy had made it possible for her to understand the French language was beyond her. Still, she was not about to complain. She liked learning new languages. The sound of something seeming to explode in the bathroom had Ellaina jumping to her feet. She stopped herself from running inside. "What happened?!" she shouted.

Anne trudged out, looking none too happy. She had done nothing outside of brushing her hair straight. "Slendy and I had an argument over the hair spray. He tried to pull it away from me and I didn't want to let go, and well…it was an aerosol can so it blew up when your Slendy grabbed onto it too tightly. Stupid thing. Now how am I supposed to do my hair?"

The taller of the women merely began laughing. "Slendy, do you have any idea what kind of monster you just created? Anne needs her hair spray to function."

Anne growled, grabbing a hold of her friend. "We are leaving now. We still have to go buy our dresses, and the boys each need a wedding ring. And we're getting our hair done, no matter how much you complain about it. And-" She continued going on and on even as she pulled Ellaina out of the door.

Two hours passed before someone began knocking at the door, an action that quickly annoyed the Slenderman as he had just finally fallen asleep. Clearly, Fate was dead set against him getting any form of sleep anytime soon. He supposed that he couldn't complain too much, considering that he normally did not sleep that much, or at all. He slowly made his way to the door and upon sensing that it was merely Totheark, he opened it.

_Hello, _he greeted, stepping aside to allow Totheark in.

The boy grumbled a reply before walking in. He plopped himself down on the bed, lying back onto it. He pulled the mask off of his face and rubbed at his eyes. He hadn't been wearing it as of late, but had decided to wear it to visit his "dad". He was somewhat regretting bringing it, as it cut off his peripheral vision when he wore it-something which gave him a terrible headache.

_And why are you in such a mood this morning? _Slendy asked, coming to stand at the foot of the bed. He had to wonder why everyone insisted on taking the bed from him. He wanted to go back to sleep before it came time to marry Ellaina. He already had her wedding ring. All he would have to do was get dressed.

Totheark groaned. "Anne is pregnant. I never wanted children. Oh sure, I was going to ask her to marry me at some point, but I didn't want kids. I don't know the first thing about being a dad."

_Yes, she told me last night. Well, you should have thought of that before-_

"Oh, don't lecture me. Ellaina read me the riot act all last night when Anne made the big announcement. She yelled at Anne to, saying we were idiots." he interrupted.

_You were being idiots. I thought I raised you better than this Totheark. You knew what this could lead to, and now you will suffer the consequences._ Slenderman replied, trying to stay calm.

"Oh, well, this is great parenting. Isn't the dad supposed to comfort his son when something like this happens? You know, tell me everything will be okay, and not make me feel worse?" Totheark countered, glaring up at the ceiling.

_You know full well that I do not sugar coat things. It was your own need for pleasure that got you into this mess, and now you will be a man and take care of the problem. You will go through with your proposal to Anne. She will be your wife, and you will raise the child. _Slender replied, feeling some irritation kicking up in him.

"What if I don't? There are plenty of single mothers in the world. I'm sure-"

_Don't you DARE speak that way. This child will know its parents, and both parents will love it._

"Oh right, I forgot." Totheark replied, laughing harshly. "You have parental issues. Plenty of kids have just one parent."

_How DARE you? You know nothing. Look at me when I speak to you, James Totheark. _

Totheark forced himself to sit up to look at Slenderman in the "eyes". He knew that the man would never allow him to get away with talking to him without facing him like a man. It was an annoying quirk that the Slenderman had, but it really was useful. Totheark found that looking at someone when speaking to them would allow one to learn the other's emotions and/or intentions. But, he saw neither of these things when his eyes met his father's face. No, all he saw were odd black lines. They looked unhealthy, sickly.

"Slenderman, what's wrong with you?" he questioned, all thoughts of his anger gone.

Slendy, however, had not been able to contain his emotion so quickly. _Oh, it is just a little gift from my wonderful mother. A chemical she had put in my blood to make me a monster. Well, my dear child, it seems that the chemical has finally started to attack the blood. I'll be dead soon due to it, so it does not matter. But I swear to whatever God may exist, if you are not in your child's life-_

"Wait a minute! What do you mean, the chemical is killing you? Dad, you can't die! You're the Slenderman. You don't die. Other people die. Not you. I'll-I'll stay with Anne. I'll be the best dad ever. You can't die." Totheark's mind was reeling. He did not want to accept what Slenderman had said. It could not be happening. The Slenderman had always been a constant in his life. A life without that constant in his life…he could not imagine it. He did not want to imagine it.

Slenderman sighed. He had gone and done it again. No one was supposed to know about this little fact. Again, he knew it would be wrong to simply wipe the boy's memory, just like it had been with Anne. Now, things were worse. He could not expect them both to keep this hidden from Ellaina. One of them would tell her eventually. Still, he could at least try to make the boy stay quiet. _Anne knows of this already. She found out last night. Promise me you will not tell Ellaina._

"You haven't told her yet?" Totheark asked, sounding surprised. "She needs to know."

Slenderman sighed, sitting at the edge of the bed. _I know_, came the quiet reply. He could not bring himself to look at the boy he called son. He did not want to leave this world, not now that things were going well. Perhaps before he met Ellaina he would have been alright with it, but now it was the last thing he wanted-to die. _I will tell her soon. Don't let Anne tell her._

"I-I won't," Totheark replied, moving over to sit next to the Slenderman. He slowly placed his hand on the man's shoulder, trying to comfort him in some small way. "I promise I will stay with Anne and be a good father, like you were to me."

_Totheark, you know I am not your father._

"Yeah, well, you always acted like it, even when you didn't need to. I'll always consider you to be like a father to me. Thank you for always being here for me. Love you, Dad." Totheark hugged the man, trying to ignore the tears he felt at his eyes.

Slender looked down on the boy, hugging him back. _I love you too, Son. _


	27. Chapter 27

A/N- Soooooorrrrryyy for lack of updates. Anyways, it is time for a wedding! XDDDDD And, yeah, **there are some more mature themes**. No smut, though. I'll leave that to your imagination.

It was some late hour of the night, but the ones inside the church really could not care less. They had managed to find some little out of the way place that would be willing to marry both couples with no questions asked. Totheark and Slenderman stood at the end of the aisle, waiting for the women to finally come down the hall. The younger of the two kept shifting his weight from one foot to the other, something which was somewhat amusing and somewhat irritating to the Slenderman.

_Are you nervous? _Slendy asked, crossing his arms over his chest and staring down at the end of the church, as if that would make the girls show up sooner.

Totheark looked in the direction of the Slenderman. "What do you think? And, what about you, Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected? God, what could be taking them so long? It cannot take this long for them to get ready. They only have to-"

_Relax, _Slenderman chided lightly. _They're coming now. Try to stand up straight and keep still._

"Yeah, you're nervous," Totheark muttered quietly while doing as he was told.

Ellaina and Anne stood just on the other side of the small set of wooden double doors. They had spent the entire day shopping for the perfect dresses. It had not taken Ellaina long to find hers, as she was not picky and had not been looking for anything in particular. Anne, on the other hand, had been dreaming of being married for years, so she had had the image set in her mind of what she wanted her dress to look like. The dress had been found, though it had cost her nearly all of the money Slendy had given her. She had still had enough money to buy a decent ring for Totheark.

The taller of the two sighed, nerves starting to take her over. "Well, this is it, Anne."

Anne looked at her friend, trying to hide the sadness from her eyes. She had promised not to tell Ellaina about what she knew, but it was difficult. She deserved to know what was going on. As a woman of her word, though, she would not tell her. All she could do was reassure her friend that everything was going to work out fine. "Ellaina, you know that he loves you. Oh sure, he tries to hide it from Totheark and me, but it is so painfully obvious. You don't have to get nervous about this. He's in there, waiting for you, Ell. Don't keep him waiting any longer. The marriage will bind you to him forever."

Ellaina smiled. "Well, perhaps not forever, but at least until Death does us part."

Anne forced herself to look away from her friend as tears threatened to spill from her eyes. Ell really had no idea about it. Slendy must have lied to her about his condition.

"Anne, you aren't crying, are you? Honey, what's wrong?" Ellaina asked, maternal instincts kicking in. She had always been this way to Anne since her mother had died. As her friend, Ellaina figured that it was the least she could do.

The shorter of the two cleared her throat, quickly thinking up a lie. "I'm just so happy. I'm getting married, and I'm going to have a baby. Oh, and I almost forgot to tell you! Totheark and I want you and Slendy to be the godparents. I already told Slender." Well, the last part wasn't a lie.

Ellaina smiled brightly. "Oh, that's so sweet of you. How did Slendy handle it when you told him that you were pregnant?"

"He was going to kill us for being idiots, and then he decided against it," Anne replied. She turned her attention back to the set of wooden doors. "We shouldn't keep them waiting any longer." Seeing Ellaina nod her head in agreement, Anne pushed the door open and began her walk down the aisle, followed by Ellaina.

The wedding had gone well. The now married couples had just left the church, not really knowing where to go. Anne and Totheark eventually decided to separate from the other couple to go and explore Paris a bit more. They wanted to get some more sights in before they had to leave. According to Slendy, they would be leaving tomorrow evening. He could have let them stay longer, of course, but he was not sure how long his health would hold out. It would not go well for him to die on them and for them to be stuck in another country. They could just buy plane tickets to get back home, but he did not trust airplanes and did not want them to have to be stuck on one.

Anne and Totheark were slowly making their way back to the Eifel Tower. They had gone to it once already, but it had only been a brief visit. They wanted to see more of the city at night. Slendy had told them that the view was breath taking from the top of the Tower, and that said a lot coming from a person that was not impressed by much.

The short woman sighed, looking down on her feet. A light snow was falling, so her feet were becoming rather cold. It was not the cold that bothered her, though, and it was not the line they were stuck waiting in to get their tickets to be able to go up. Her thoughts were focused on Ellaina. She looked back up at Totheark, who was standing beside her. "Do you think he'll tell her?" Totheark had told her what he had been inadvertently informed of.

He sighed. "He says that he will, and he tends to do what he says. It likely won't be soon that he'll tell her, though. Dad will want her to be happy for tonight." Totheark looked away from her and to the man who was selling the tickets. He bought them before leading Anne to the next line that would bring them to the top of the Tower. "Do you think they waited in line?"

Anne began to laugh. "Oh, I doubt that. He probably just teleported them up there."

"He can be so lazy sometimes," he replied, laughing as well. The happiness began to die away though as he thought about the fact that the man would soon be gone from this world. It still did not seem possible that something like this could happen. It just…it couldn't happen. The Slenderman did not just die. He brought Death to other people; he wasn't the one who died.

Anne squeezed his hand slightly, causing him to look down on her. "Hey, maybe he will pull through this. With that indomitable will of his, he'll likely tell Death to get lost, or something. Besides, it is our wedding night. We should be thinking about other things."

Totheark laughed, pulling her close to him. "You dirty girl," he commented before kissing her. Their wedding night would certainly be one to remember.

Ellaina had decided to bring Slenderman back to the hotel room. She had never been a fan of being out late in a city that she did not know. She knew that Slendy would most certainly be able to keep her safe, but the hotel room just seemed to be calling to her. They now stood outside said hotel room, her trying to find the swipe card key to let them in the room. She had far too much junk buried in her purse, so it was likely that the card was at the bottom of the pile. She had just grabbed a hold of what was likely the key when the door unlocked itself. She sighed in defeat and looked up at her…husband. It seemed unreal. She smiled up at him. "So, my all powerful Slenderman can unlock doors without a key? That could come in handy."

_Indeed, _Slenderman replied, slightly nervous at the fact that they were already back at the hotel room. It was their wedding night and he knew what went along with that. He knew that he should not be the one who was nervous, but he still was. What if he did something wrong? What if he hurt her in some way? These thoughts were taken from his mind when she opened the door and started to walk in. He scooped her up in his arms, bridal style, before she had the chance to take another step. She gasped slightly, her arms going around his neck. This only made him chuckle. _You did not think I would allow you over the threshold without my carrying you, would you? _He set her down on the bed, using a tendril to close the door behind them.

Ellaina smiled up at him. "Well, I didn't think you'd know about it, my husband."

He internally smiled, wishing that she could see how incredibly happy it made him to hear her give him that title. _Well, Anne told me about it in between her Disney stories._

"I see," Ellaina replied. She looked at her position on the bed and then back up at the Slenderman. It seemed so odd that she was so comfortable in this position. Ellaina most certainly knew what tonight would lead to, but she was not nervous in the least. This night would make her truly be Slender's wife in mind and body. She smirked at him. "Did she tell you about another wedding tradition by chance? I'll give you a hint; it has to do with something that I am wearing."

_Well, I know what is supposed to happen on a wedding night, _Slendy replied, sounding a bit shy over the whole thing. While some information on the Internet said that he would take advantage of his female victims, he had never done so. The closest he had ever been to a woman was the time he had spent with Ellaina, and that had never gone anywhere near what tonight would go to.

Ellaina blushed slightly. "Yes, there is _that_, but I am talking about something else. While you will get to undress me later, there is something you need to take off of me now." She hated how much of a pig she sounded like. Then again, this was her husband. She was allowed to act this way with him. She most certainly would not act this way with any other man.

Had he eyes, they would be wide with the way she was speaking. She never talked this way; it was something he did not associate with her, this way she was speaking. Ellaina was always so modest with him. Even though he knew he should just trust her, he took a quick look into her mind and found that she had never acted this way with another man. It made him feel a bit more at ease, and it made him feel…well, like he had felt when they were last in a hotel room together.

"Did I lose you to the world of thought again, Slendy?" Ellaina questioned, leaning back onto her elbows on the bed. She wanted his focus to be on her. It was too bad that she was unable to sense his thoughts, to know that his mind held no thought outside of her.

He shook his head, bringing his attention back onto her. _Sorry for that. You know how my mind tends to wander. Now, what was this tradition you wanted me to fulfill? _

Ellaina smiled, a slight blush coming to her face as she thought about what this tradition meant, where it could go. In some places this tradition could be extremely sexually and in others it could be something quite simple. She could only imagine how Slendy would go about doing it. "Well…women wear a garter on their wedding day. The husband gets to remove it as he sees fit."

_Well, alright then. Where do women wear this garter thing? _He had never heard of this article of clothing and he certainly had never seen it. Of the women he had seen in the forest, none had ever been dressed for a wedding. Then again, he never paid too much attention as to what women wore. He looked her over, trying to find the article. All he could see was a dress and some jewelry.

"Find it," Ellaina challenged, lying back onto the bed entirely. She laughed slightly, hearing him grumble slightly to himself. She saw him looking her over, trying to visually find what he was searching for. "Would you like another hint as to where it could be?" Seeing him give a slight nod, she began to laugh again. "Oh, my dear Slendy, you are so very innocent. Alright, I'll just go ahead and tell you. You will find it on my right leg." She did not tell him exactly where it was. That was something he would need to figure out on his own.

Slenderman knew that something was going on with the way she was acting and by that little comment of hers. _You will find, my Little One, that I am not that innocent._ He had an idea now of where this garter thing could be. It was no wonder she was acting like this, and the thing certainly tied into the theme of what a wedding night should be. He stood at the end of the bed, looking down on her. Once again, he went into her mind-the need to know how other men did this sort of thing driving him on. He pulled back from her mind, surprised at what this could entail. Well…he may not be like other men, but he most certainly could make this enjoyable for her.

Ellaina gasped slightly when she felt one of his tendrils slowly winding its way up her leg. It was cold compared to her skin. She had not known that he could control the temperature of them. The only logical explanation for how cold they were was to get her to react this way. The tendril did find what it was looking for, but the object of its search was ignored. The tendril continued to wind around her leg, going further up. Her eyes went wide when the coldness was suddenly gone, only to be replaced with his hand. He was leaning over her now, his face very close to hers while his hand remained on her leg.

_Kiss me, _he stated, his voice sounding more like a demand than anything. It would be a lie to say that he was not enjoying himself, and he could only imagine how the rest of this night would make him feel. More than anything he wanted to just…take her here and now. It might be base of him, but at the moment he did not care. Her arms came around his neck, her lips meeting his nonexistent ones. Slendy growled into the kiss, ripping away the garter. Slender made himself pull away, looking down on her. _Will you allow me to make you mine? _He wanted this more than anything, but he was not going to force her. He wanted her to be willing to do this.

Ellaina pushed him away slightly, forcing herself to her feet. She pulled a small bag out from under the bed. She had bought what was inside it and hidden it away before he had the chance to see it. She smiled at him, slowly making her way to the bathroom. "Let me change into something more comfortable. I'm sure you'll like it."

He followed her, pulling the bag out of her hand. He looked into the bag and became somewhat confused. _Ellaina…there's only lipstick in this bag._

She smiled widely at him, taking the bag back from him and heading to the bathroom. "Exactly."

A/N- That end bit is a reference to the show _The Nanny_. If you have seen the show, you will remember what scene this was. Poor Maxwell. Fran was being such a tease in that episode. xD


	28. Chapter 28

A/N- Now, you all didn't think I'd kill Slendy before I let him have his wedding night, did you? If so, shame on you! Anyway, you all are really going to hate me with how I've decided to end this story. xD

Ellaina woke up, finding she was snuggling a pillow. This was rather odd. She would have thought that she'd wake up to be hugging her husband. Putting the term to the Slenderman was starting to become easier now, especially considering the night they had spent together. She sighed with content at the memory and slowly made her way to get up and go searching for Slendy. She planned to wrap the bed sheet around her-she had to keep some modesty-but she found that she was already in one of Slendy's white dress shirts. She laughed slightly at how very long it was on her. It covered all of the vital areas, though it left little to be imagined.

The sounds of running water made Ellaina go to the bathroom to see just who was inside, though it really was no mystery. She leaned against the doorway, watching Slendy as he washed his hands. Clearly, he had given her his shirt, as he was not wearing one. Ellaina was not about to complain about that. The black lines could not take away from what he looked like. She would wait for him to acknowledge her. Then again, she didn't really know what to say. It was stupid of her, but she felt somewhat shy after what their wedding night. The memories of what they had done were engrained in her memory. Honestly, she would not mind making more memories with him. He had made her feel so alive last night.

_Well, good morning, Ellaina, _Slendy stated, turning to face her. His voice carried happiness in it, and that was exactly what he wanted. She should know that she had really made him happy beyond words. He still could not believe that Ellaina had allowed him to make her be his. He knew that he should not have done such a thing, though. The black in his blood was becoming all the more visible against his white skin. He knew that he would die, but he had still taken her. Why was he so incredibly selfish where she was concerned?

Ellaina smiled, coming forward to hug him. "And what are you thinking about now, Slendy?"

He looked down on her smiling face. Anne was right. She did deserve to know what was going to happen, but he did not feel the want to tell her just yet. The way she was hugging him was different. She was pressed quite closely to him, her own waist tight to his. She could not possibly want…no, that seemed impossible. Forcing thoughts out of his head, Slendy hugged her back, replying, _Hmm, you really want to know my thoughts, my Little One?_

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know," Ellaina replied, hoping he was getting the hint from how closely she was pressed against him. She felt like a complete and utter pig, but what he had made her feel last night was beyond words. She wanted to experience it again before something else bad happened to them. Luck had never really been on their side. Knowing her luck, Slendy would end up dead or something in the next few hours. She doubted that wouldn't be the case though.

He laughed at her. _Delving into my thoughts might be a bit dangerous, Ellaina, but I suppose that I could tell you some of my thoughts. _Slendy pulled her up into his arms, bridal style once again. At the very least this did not cause him any pain. The tendrils, however, were not left to just be inactive. One turned the water on to the bath tub while another put the plug in so the water could fill up. Ellaina looked up at him, her arms around his neck. Slendy chuckled slightly, _You have been a dirty girl, so I'll just have to clean you up._

"Is that so?" Ellaina countered, trying to ignore the fact that one of the tendrils was slowly unbuttoning her shirt. "And, what about you, Mr. Slenderman? You were rather dirty if I remember properly. You'll need to scrub up to. I'll need to help you with those hard to reach places." A hand trailed down his back, finding one of his tender spots. He had certainly liked it when she had touched him there last night. Doing so had resulted in her being rewarded quite handsomely.

Slendy finished unbuttoning the shirt, though he kept his sights on her face. He tried to ignore her ministrations. She may be playing the part of the temptress, but he would not be seduced quite so easily-well, not yet anyway. He was a gentleman after all. He placed her into the water, still not looking on her body. _Now, you be a good girl and let me clean you up. Maybe I will reward you afterwards. _

Ellaina crossed her arms over her chest. "And what happens if I'm naughty?"

_I believe that humans spank their child when it is naughty, _Slendy replied. _That would seem to be an appropriate punishment if you misbehave._

Her eyes went wide for a moment, before she smiled up at him. "Well then, I most certainly will need to be naughty." Ellaina splashed him with water. He tried to grab her hand in an attempt to stop her before she could splash him again. He did not want to get soaked. She managed to get a hold on him, though, and pull him in the tub as well.

Totheark and Anne, a while later, stood outside the hotel door room where Ellaina and Slendy were staying. Slendy had said that they would be leaving in the evening and the two wanted to spend the day going around the city with their friends. They had tried knocking at the door for several minutes and had gained no answer. Anne had said that the two were probably out, strolling around the city. It seemed most logical, to her anyways. Totheark, however, said that he had to be sure that Slendy and Ellaina were not in the room. He figured that the two might be sleeping. That was why he was currently breaking into their room.

"And where exactly did you learn this?" Anne asked, watching as Totheark fiddled with the door. He nearly had it unlocked after twenty minutes of messing with it.

Totheark shrugged. "Slenderman thought I should know how to do this. You never know when it could come in handy. And…got it." He finished with a triumphant smile, stepping aside to let Anne walk in first. That was the thing a gentleman does he had been told, though he didn't see it as making a difference. Who cared who walked inside first?

Anne made her way in, looking about the room. The bed was still unmade and there seemed to be no one in the room. She was about to say as much when she heard an odd sound, sounds rather, coming from what seemed to be the bathroom. A bright blush came to her face when Anne realized just what those sounds likely were.

Totheark, however, did not quite realize what those sounds were. He really was not thinking what they could possibly be. He simply heard an odd sound coming from the bathroom. He assumed that there could be something wrong with either Ellaina or Slendy. His instincts to want to help them kicked in, so he made his way to the bathroom.

Anne did not get the chance to stop him, nor did she notice him heading to the bathroom. She had been trying to distract herself with the view of the Eifel Tower that the room provided. Her attention did turn back toward the bathroom when she heard someone shouting and Slenderman's distinct voice in her head saying to _get the hell out_. She watched in amusement as Totheark came out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him, with his eye twitching slightly.

"I'm guessing you just had that moment of 'I just walked in on my parents'?" Anne questioned.

Totheark sat down on the edge of the couch, eye still twitching. "Anne…I will never unsee what I just saw in there." He rubbed at his eyes in an attempt to banish the image. He guessed that he should be grateful that neither one of them was fat, but…oh, god. He did not want to even think of what he had seen. He would be forever scarred.

"Aw, poor Totheark saw something he shouldn't have," Anne joked, coming to sit beside him and rub his back.

Totheark shook his head, the image seared to his mind. "Slendy is going to kill me. And I don't even want to think about what Ellaina will do. Death will at least be quick. She'll probably torture me or something for-"

_No, that would be my job, _Slenderman interrupted, suddenly out from the bathroom. He brushed past Totheark, going to Ellaina's suitcase. He knew nothing of how to make up an appropriate outfit for a woman, so Ellaina would need to be stuck with whatever he picked out. He refused to ask Anne for help, though she did come over to help anyway. After she rooted through Ellaina's bag and found a black dress and some undergarments, Anne went to go sit next to Totheark on the couch once more. Slendy made to go back to the bathroom, but paused just outside the door. _Perhaps next time you should knock. Regardless, I am certain you learned something most useful, son._

Totheark groaned, hands covering his face. "Stop it. Oh, god, the images!"

Slender laughed shortly before turning to head back into the bathroom. He was wet due to the fact Ellaina had pulled him into the tub while he was still in his pants. He would need to change as well at some point. Too bad he had left his clothing back home. He had thought teleporting back and forth to pick up more clothing wouldn't have been a problem. Too bad he had not foreseen how poor his health would become.

The two came out of the bathroom, Ellaina dressed in the black dress, and poor Slenderman still wet from his trip to the bathtub. She kept apologizing, and he continued to tell her not to worry about it. Ellaina looked to the two who were sitting on the couch, trying to look innocent.

"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" Ellaina demanded from Totheark, making her way to stand in front of him. She slapped him hard across the face. "How did you even get in? The door was locked tight."

"He broke in," Anne supplied, smiling.

Ellaina's eyes went wide. "He what?! Why didn't you try to stop him? In case you have forgotten breaking and entering is against the law. I swear, if you didn't love him, I'd kill your husband."

Totheark sighed, turning his gaze from the angry woman in front of him to that of the Slenderman. "Aren't you going to yell at me too?"

_I figured that what you walked in on is punishment enough, _Slendy stated. _Sadly, we will need to cut this trip a bit short though. We can come back at a later date. Go and get your things and then we will leave. One of you should go check out._

Once the two left, Ellaina flopped down onto the bed with a groan. "Why couldn't he have just knocked like any other normal human being? I'm so embarrassed."

Slenderman shrugged, going around the room to pick up her things and stuff them into her suitcase. He figured that he could do this little favor for her while she relaxed.

"I'm sorry for getting you all wet," Ellaina commented, watching as he forced the suitcase to close. She found it cute that he had decided to help her out. She forced herself out of the bed, for one thing had been forgotten to be packed into the suitcase-her wedding gown. She went into the bathroom and picked it up from where it had been left. She came back out, carrying it. "So, how are we going to make this fit?"

_Well, I doubt you would want to crush it in your suitcase. You could just carry it separately, _Slendy replied. He set the suitcase at the door and turned back to face her. He really needed to tell her what was going on. The trip back home was not something he was looking forward to. Odds were that the pain from going back home would be worse than anything he had felt before. He did not want to face the fact that the journey back home might very well be the last thing he did. Slendy planned on telling her, only to be interrupted by Anne and Totheark coming into the room, suitcases in hand.

"Again, is it too hard for you two to knock?" Ellaina asked, coming over to them to pick up her own suitcase and get ready for their journey back home. While she did like it here, she wanted to get back to her own home. She turned her attention to Slendy when one of his tendrils wrapped around her wrist, as well as the other's wrists.

Slenderman internally sighed, not at all wanting to do this. Still, they needed to get home before the chemical killed him completely. At least if this journey killed him, the others would be safe back home. He could only hope that Fate would allow him to survive this.

The three disappeared from the room.


	29. Chapter 29

A/N- Don't hate me too much.

The small group returned to Ellaina's home rather quickly. Ellaina and Anne were still quite unaccustomed to traveling in such a way. They, unlike Totheark, had not traveled this way all the time, so both were still able to feel awe at how the process worked. Neither was paying much attention to the One who had been responsible for bringing them home. Both were paying more attention to the fact of what they should do now that they were back in America. Totheark, however, did notice the condition that der Ritter was in. He wanted to do something to help, but he knew that there was virtually nothing he could do. It was incredibly frustrating. Slender had always cared for him-for his entire life. And now, when the man needed help, Totheark had no way to give it to him.

Pain was not something new to him; Slenderman put up with it almost constantly since he had been made into whatever he was. Again, he really wished he knew what to call himself. He was not entirely human but he was not some animal. It was too bad that he had never been able to figure it out before he would meet his end. And it seemed that his end was very close if the blinding, debilitating pain was anything to go by. This pain was worse than anything he had felt before including the time he had spent at GENLAB Industries. It was likely a bad sign that he was willing to go through that pain again rather than deal with what he was feeling now. How he wanted to just make this pain leave him, to allow himself to cry out against the pain. He couldn't though, not with Ellaina in the room. She still did not know. He could not very well just start moaning in pain and not tell her what was happening. Still, she needed to know. He had to tell her, despite how badly he wanted to keep her ignorant.

Something was different this time, however, he noticed. His hands felt…wet, and he was starting to feel weak. That same wet feeling was on his face as well. Slenderman looked down at his hands, finding them covered in a thick, sickly black liquid. The chemical-it had burst the veins and arteries in his hands. He was losing blood. That was why he was feeling weak. What a way to die, by bleeding out. How many of his victims had died in the same way? It seemed odd to die in such a way. This most certainly was not how he had planned to go. Then again, he had not planned on dying anytime soon. He had expected the chemical to stop the flow of his blood and kill him that way, but the thought of this form of a death…it had never crossed his mind.

The Slenderman wanted to get out of the room, perhaps make it back to his own home to just…lose his blood and leave this world. He did not want his friends-if he could call them just that, for he saw them as so much more-to see him like this. He especially did not want his Ellaina to see this happen. He tried to step away from them. He tried to head to the back door so he could just disappear into the woods, but weakness overcame him. As he went down to his knees with a weak moan, he could feel more of the liquid making itself known on the tendrils and his back. It was not this fact that pained him most, though the feel of the chemical burning his skin was rather painful. No, what caused him the most pain was seeing the look of terror in Ellaina's eyes. Any strength he had left disappeared. He lay back onto his back, staring up at the ceiling. What should he be feeling now? he wondered. Humans always displayed fear when they were about to die, yet he did not fear Death. He felt more so disappointed with himself for letting the chemical beat him so easily.

"What-what's happening?" Ellaina questioned, quickly coming to his side. She tried to wipe away the blackness from his face, but pulled back when the liquid touched her. It burned, like acid. She quickly wiped the material from her person onto the carpet. What in the name of God was happening to him? He had said that nothing was wrong. He said that there was nothing to worry about. Whatever was happening certainly did not look like everything was all sunshine and rainbows. He looked like he was staring down Death and losing the battle. But, he had told her everything was fine. Had this sort of thing happened to him before? Was this common for him? She did not know the answers which made her all the more desperate to get Slendy to answer her.

Slendy couldn't find his voice; or rather he could not remember how to speak to a person into their mind. The knowledge of how to do so was simply…gone. His mind could not find the information that allowed him to do so. He came to realize that as the chemical left his body, the power it had given him would also go. He had never asked for this power, but he had become accustomed to it. He was used to it and considered it to be a part of him. Without it, he could not speak. He had no mouth, no way to physically speak. It was just like it was in the beginning. He wanted to speak, but there was no way for him to do so. All he could do was look up at Ellaina's face. He had no way to convey what was happening. Anne was right. Totheark was right. He really should have told her to expect this. It would have made this perhaps a little easier on her. He had been selfish, though, so damnably selfish. What right had he had to keep this from her? Husbands and wives were not supposed to keep secrets.

Anne came to sit next to Ellaina, who was asking him once again what was wrong. Neither could understand why he would not answer. The shorter of the two sighed. Her friend needed to know what was happening, but…she had promised not to say a word. Still, it seemed that Slendy was unable to tell her what was happening. Maybe he would not be mad at her if she told. Just like she had said to Slendy, Ellaina deserved to know what was going on, especially now that it was actually happening. And that realization, the one that der Ritter was actually dying, brought tears to Anne's eyes. There was no other option now. Ellaina had to know. As she was about to tell what was going on, Totheark beat her to it.

"He is leaving us," Totheark stated, his voice devoid of all emotion. If he allowed his emotion to show, he would be a blubbering wreck. That was not how he wanted Slendy to remember him. He had always been strong in front of his father figure, even from a young age. Getting upset now would only make things all the worse for Slendy, and that was not something that he wanted. It looked like Slender was suffering enough as it was as Death came to claim him. Taxing him emotionally certainly would not be helpful in any way.

Ellaina did not understand. Leaving us? What exactly did that mean? She looked down on the One she called husband. His hands were clenched tightly, a sure sign that he was in some sort of pain, but he would not accept her touch. Whatever was on his skin would burn her, she knew. That was why he would not allow her close to him. Still, she wanted to be able to assuage his pain in some way. Then it came to her, what Totheark meant. The Slenderman was leaving. He was dying, leaving the world of mortals. No, it could not happen. Her mind did not want to accept it. He was her husband; she loved him above all else. She looked down at Slendy, her eyes filling with tears. "No. No, you can't leave us. You don't die. Humans die, not you. You can't leave us."

He never should have become involved in her life. Why had he become so attached to her? He knew better than to do so. The last time he had allowed himself to grow close to another human….no, now was not the time to focus on the past. This world…he was leaving it. Should he not be focused on the fact that he was dying? What was Death like? He had caused it on numerous occasions, but he had never experienced it. He would likely end up in Hell for all of the murder he had committed. That was not a pleasant thought. It seemed that he would be seeing his dear, sweet mother again. There was no way that he would be allowed to gain access to Heaven. He had to wonder where his father would be. His hope was that the poor man had been granted access to the land of God. But, did he even believe in God? Was there even a Heaven and a Hell? It was a thing of the human world, these places that existed beyond Death. He had been born human, so it could be that one of these places could accept him.

A terrible pain shot through his neck. He knew what was going to happen next, and he had to admit that it frightened him to some extent. He knew anatomy well enough to know what major blood vessels ran through his neck. The loss of those would lead to his death, and it seemed that the chemical was dead set for doing such. Knowing that he would die soon forced adrenaline into his blood. Sure, this caused him more blood loss, but it did allow him some temporary strength. He forced himself to sit up and pull Ellaina close to him. He looked into her eyes, her watery eyes, as his body trembled with the effort to remain up and from the pain. How he wished he could impart onto her just how much he cared for her. He wanted to tell her that everything would be alright after he left this world. She would still have Anne and Totheark. There was no way for him to tell her these things with the loss of his power. It was surprising he could even function. He kissed her, though it was weak.

Ellaina sobbed into their kiss. He was going to leave her. It did not seem possible, and she knew full well that she would not be able to heal him. His healing did not work on problems associated with the blood. So, this kiss was not a way to heal him but…to say goodbye. This realization only made her more upset. She leaned in closer to him, not caring as the chemical burned at her skin. All she wanted was to keep him alive. There had to be something that could be done. There just had to.

Slender forced himself to his feet, away from her, and forced himself to walk outside. There would be no point in getting the chemical and his blood all over Ellaina's home. Both of the women and Totheark tried to call him back to them. They were begging him, saying that there had to be something that could be done. But Slenderman knew better. There was nothing that could be done. Perhaps leaving this world would not be so bad. He would no longer have to suffer. There would be no more people screaming if they saw him. There would be no more need to murder humans. Peace, he could finally have peace. He would be free of pain, but what was he leaving behind? He looked back, seeing the three standing at the doorway. He understood why Totheark would be upset; his father figure was dying. He could understand Ellaina's grief; the one she loved was leaving her. He could not understand why Anne would be upset, though. He had always been so rude to her, something he now regretted. He regretted so much in his life. Had he said no to his father all of those years ago he never would have become a genetic experiment. He never would have killed anyone. And it was those deaths that he had caused that he regretted perhaps the most. People had died because of him and sometimes for no other reason than for his entertainment. It made him sick to think about.

The pain in his neck suddenly became far worse. There was nothing he could do to ease the pain as the carotid arteries began to fill to maximum capacity due to the chemical. Slender turned away from the three who were watching him. There was no point in making them see this happen, his end. He was not cruel enough to force that onto them. He felt something seem to almost snap inside of his neck. Liquid flooded under his skin, and blood began to be deprived to his brain. He fell to his knees and proceeded to fall to his side, his life force leaving him. Everything started to go cold and his vision started to become unfocused. The pull of unconsciousness was there for him, and he was more than willing to just give into it. The pain would be gone if he gave in.

But, then he could sense someone at his side, begging him not to leave, pleading with him to stay in this world. He forced himself to look up at the face, forced himself to focus on who was asking this of him. Ellaina. He should have known. How he wished he could just do as she asked, but there was nothing he could do. Death was upon him. He weakly reached out a blood stained hand to touch her face before the pull of unconsciousness, of Death, overwhelmed him. His hand fell from her face and to her lap as blackness invaded his mind. There seemed to be a bright light, though, at the very edge of his vision. Stories said that the light was good. The light would lead to positive things, or so he had heard. In what movies he had seen, the good side was always fighting for the light. Hadn't Ellaina said something about the Light Side of the Force-or whatever it was called-when she had tried to explain Star Wars to him late on their wedding night. Then again, he had heard the humans say don't go toward the light, for it was not good. Still, something deep inside of his mind told him to go to it, so he did.

A/N- There is more to come soon, my lovely reviewers. ;)


	30. Chapter 30

A/N- I am sorry for not posting this chapter right away. Here it is, though. ;D

He woke to a new sort of world. He tried to focus on the place around him and found that he was in a place that no mortal should be ever be able to reach. He was standing before a golden gate to a city in the clouds. This gate looked to be the passageway to another area of this place. Something was different, he noticed, as he looked upon this place. It seemed to be…well, out of focus to say the least. Everything seemed to be fuzzy, not the normal sharp images he was able to pick up on. His normal vision allowed him to pick up in the minutest details. Slender brought his hands to his face, thinking that perhaps the blood and chemical could somehow be hindering his sight. What he was met with, what he found, made him freeze entirely. What he found certainly did explain why his vision was less focused.

Eyes. He had eyes. How this had happened was far beyond his understanding. Still, this was not something he was about to complain about. How long had it been since he had had human vision, since he had something on his face? Slowly, he brought his hands to the other areas of his face where normal features should have been. They were there. Everything was there-a nose, a mouth, lips. It was completely overwhelming. Tears fell from eyes, tears of pain from years of suffering and of joy for having the ability to do so. A sob came from him, a physically audible sound. What a wonderful thing that was. The tears caused him a slightly runny nose. He laughed at this. He could not remember the last time this had happened. A laugh, he could laugh and someone other than him could hear it. Humanity, he had his humanity back. Why was it now, in this city in the clouds, that he was able to be human once again after so many years? And, what exactly was this place? It most certainly could not be Heaven, for his soul was not fit for such a place. Perhaps this was a place for lost souls. But, he had never heard of such a place. Was this all just a dream?

_You are at the Gates, _a voice stated.

Slender jumped slightly at the sound. No one had ever been able to speak into _his _mind. That was something he had always done, but now…there was no longer a need to do so. There was also the fact that he no longer knew how to do so. That was a fact he did not like, but if that was the price he needed to pay in order to have his humanity back, he would most certainly pay it. Things were as they should have been. He could speak to this voice. Still, years of being more or less a predator had heightened his senses. He looked in the direction of a slight sound, finding a figure that was shrouded in a cloak of mists. There was no way to tell if this was a male or female. He slowly made his way toward the figure, not entirely trusting the being. "What are the Gates?" he asked. His voice came out somewhat harsh from lack of use. It certainly was not the voice he was accustomed to hearing. His voice was normally much stronger than this.

_You are at the Gates to His World, but it was not yet your time to make the journey to this place, _the figure replied, not sounding masculine or feminine but rather both. It made no move toward or away from the being in front of it. The figure merely stayed where it was, in front of the Gates. The job it had been given was to give this one the options. No identity could be revealed.

"How very cryptic," Slendy replied, looking up at the Golden Gates that barred his way to the place that sat behind them. There was a feeling of utter peace and perfection coming from the place. It seemed to be more than welcoming. He felt the pull to go into this place, but there was something at the back of his mind that said to wait before he just went to this place. He turned his attention back onto the shrouded figure. "Are you going to explain what you mean?" It was still odd to him to be able to have a voice once again.

A sense of amusement seemed to wash off of the figure, though it gave no physical indication of mirth. The figure gestured to the Gates. _You are granted access to His world if you so choose it. You have one more option, though. _

His world? What exactly was meant by that? What was the antecedent to the "he" in the sentence? This should not be such a difficult thing for him. Knowledge and understanding was never something he had had difficulty with before. The chemical had granted him knowledge and it seemed that even though he had lost the chemical, the knowledge he had gained was not lost along with it. Then it came to him. Slenderman took a closer look at the figure and then to the Gates. This place, this city… "I'm in Heaven?" Slender questioned, not believing it. This could not be possible. He had killed people. Murderers did not get to go to this place.

_You are at the Gates at the moment, _the figure answered. _Is this the place you choose to stay in? Know that you have a second option._

That confused him. What did this figure mean by a second option? There was only one Heaven, or so he had heard. "And, what is the second option? Is it to…send me to Hell?" Slenderman did not even want to put the idea into the figure's mind. There was no telling, no way of knowing, if he could be sent from this place of Paradise to the world of Suffering. While he did not fear Death, the idea of eternal suffering was not something that he wanted to face any time soon. He really hoped that he had not just cursed himself to that place.

_We do not send White Souls to the World of the Damned, _the voice answered. It took a few steps away from the Gates and outstretched a hand. The clouds before the figure parted, showing a scene before the two as if looking down into some sort of a television screen. The scene was of the backyard of Ellaina's home. Everyone was still in the backyard. Ellaina was crying over a dead body, his own Slender came to realize. Anne was beside her friend, trying to perhaps offer some sort of comfort. And Totheark had his back to the others, pain written on his face as tears rolled down from his eyes.

"Why are you showing me their pain?" Slendy asked, feeling pain himself. They should not be this upset over his passing. He was not worth it. Again, he never should have become involved in their lives. At the very least, if he had never known Ellaina or Anne, it would have only been his adoptive son that would have felt the pain of loss. He had no right to make the women feel that, especially not the one he called wife. How selfish he had been where she was concerned. He had known that he was going to die and still he had wed her and taken her innocence. How he had ever been granted access to this world of Angels was utterly beyond him.

The figured turned its attentions to the other. _Your other option is to return to the world of the Mortals to be with them once again. Know that if you choose this path, you will not return as a Human. You will be in that form. _The form gestured to the body Ellaina was sobbing for.

He should have known not to expect an answer about their pain, but to be offered the chance to return to them…it did not seem like it was possible. There had to be some catch to it. There had to be some sort of payment for this. Living as that nonhuman form was something he could do very easily. How many years had he lived like that? While it did bother him to have humans look on him with terror, it did not bother him to live that way.

_You do not have much time to make the choice. The body will soon be beyond saving._

"I will go back to them, but…there is something that I want to know," he replied while looking down on the scene once again. Anne was trying to get Ellaina to return to the house, but there was another figure approaching them. There was something familiar about the person, but he could not make out who it could be. That was odd. He could only hope that whoever it was turned out to be a friend and not a foe.

_Ask your question, _the voice interrupted his thoughts.

Slender put his attention onto the mist shrouded figure. "Why was I made into…that form? I may not know much about Christianity, but is God not supposed to love all of His Children?"

_All face trials in their lives, some far worse than others. Being able to survive these trials shows that Humanity may still yet have a chance in its survival. I can personally assure you that the one responsible for making you that way is most regretful for his actions, _answered the figure, knowing that it was dangerous to give away this information. He could not break the Rules.

"You…know my father?" Slender asked, not believing it. His father had been granted access to this place as well. That certainly made him smile, an actual smile-one that the form in front of him was able to see. How odd that was. He cast his eyes downward, images coming to his mind of how the man had met his end. "I…killed him," he stated softly.

_And he thanks you for it. Do you know of how he was being controlled?_ The voice seemed to be tending more toward the masculine side of things.

"Yes, I was told. If you see him…ask his forgiveness for my actions against him, would you?"

_Done. _The figure reached out a hand, an almost ghost like hand, to the one before it. As the Heavenly flesh touched that of the being before it, the choice that had been made was enacted. The being returned to the world of the living. The figured sighed, looking down on the scene with a sense of sadness, as it allowed the cloak of the mist to drop from its being. There was a man left to stand and look down on the living world as a life force came back to a body. A body…that he had created in a lab because control had been exercised over him. As he turned his attention back to the Gates and closed the clouds to the scene, he quietly sent to the soul which had returned to the realm of living, _Forgive me, my son. I love you. _

A/N- Which one of you reviewers will find the Star Wars reference, I wonder? Hmm… Your hint is that the reference comes from Episode 5.


	31. Chapter 31

A/N- Here's the next chapter. And you all thought you hated me a few chapters ago. *laughs* You all are very funny.

Awareness came back to him. Things were back to what he defined as normal, the overly sharp vision and lack of a face. Something was wrong though. He was alive again, but he could not find a way to move his body. No matter what he tried, he could not make his mind connect to his body. His thoughts were clear; he was aware of everything that was around him. Still, he could find no form of control over his body and extremities. This was rather frustrating. How had this happened? The being from the Gates had said that he was going to be given a chance at life once again. Being paralyzed certainly was not any way to live. Perhaps he had made a mistake. If this was how he was going to be made to live, he would forever regret not staying in the city in the clouds. There was something else that he noticed, though. His face was buried in the dirt and someone had their hands on his back. When he had been looking down on the scene, he had been on his back, blank face staring up into nothingness.

The person sighed, annoyed with how things had turned out. The other humans who had been here had gone back into the house. One of the women had been particularly upset over the possible death of der Ritter. It seemed that that particular woman had had some sort of bond to the One who was lying down in the ground. This person had an idea of why she would be so upset, seeing as the woman wore a wedding band, just like der Groβman. Clearly, _he _had been able to move on, had forgotten of _her _entirely. It was a source of slight irritation to the person, to her. Still, the person doubted that Slendy would die this easily.

"I thought you were stronger than this," the person stated, exposing his back.

A shock ran through his system. This was not possible. He knew that this person had died many years ago. This person had died in his arms. She was dead. He knew she was…yet, here she was, talking to him. It seemed that life never really would be normal, especially where he was concerned. It seemed that Fate enjoyed toying with him. It must be Fate's favorite past time, or however the phrase went. He wanted to make a comment to her, but he still could not find his voice. This irritated him perhaps more than the paralysis. Being unable to move was perhaps something he could learn to live with, but not being able to say a word to anyone…it would drive him insane.

The feeling of something cold and sharp against his spine further shocked his body. She could not be doing this to him. She knew what his past was. How could she do this? But then…a certain something seemed to change. Feeling came back to his body, and that feeling was one of pain from what she was doing to him. Still, he felt his injured blood vessels repairing themselves and the ability to move coming to him. Once he felt full control come back to him, he sat up and used a tendril to pull her hand away from him. Too bad that the chemical was already fully dispersed into him.

_What do you think you're doing, Raine, _Slender demanded, not releasing her, not only from his anger with what she had just done but also from the fact that he did not believe she was alive and here. He had been certain that she was dead, so certain. He remembered the pain her lifeless body had caused him. It was similar to what he had felt with Ellaina, but it was different. Raine was his friend whereas he held love for Ellaina.

The woman chuckled slightly. "Is that anyway to greet me? Here I thought you would be happy that I was alive. You certainly did not want me to die those years ago."

_This is not possible. You died in my arms, _Slender replied. He knew that she had left the world of the living. There had been no mistaking it that time. She had had no pulse. Still, he had never buried her; he had simply left her in the woods. He had been young when they had met. She had been lost in the woods and she had captured his attention. At that time he had not been killing people simply for sport. He had wanted her as a friend, if not for himself then for Totheark. They had discovered a common past between them when he had made himself known to her-both of their parents had worked in the same Lab and both of them had shared a common fate, though she had been spared the pain he had gone through. She had merely had her genes extensively tested, not changed-though they had been modified to some extent. Still, the experience had scarred her and she had not complained when her parents had been killed. They had been close friends, but she had become ill at one point. The illness had taken her life, or so he had thought.

He looked her over now, remembering how sickly she had been before she had "died". She had had no color in her face and her eyes had been blood shot and dead looking. Now, she was a completely new person. Her face was bright and shining, looking the picture of health. Her eyes were a bright amber and full of life. It had always been her eyes that were able to sway him. If she gave him a certain look, he would melt and do whatever she wanted.

"Have I lost you to the realm of thoughts again, Slenderman?" Raine questioned, smiling slightly at her old friend. It seemed so odd to be here with him once again. How many years had she spent searching for him? She had lost count and had nearly given up hope on finding him again. These woods had been the last place she was going to look, and she had managed to find him. He was still the same old Slenderman, outside of the chemical that had been all over his person. She had done enough research on the chemical to know that the right dose would be able to help him, though it would keep him looking the part of a monster.

Slender released his grip from her. _Well, you know how I am. How are you alive?_

"That is a story for another time, dear Slendy. Something seems to be wrong in your house. When I came here everyone was upset over your apparent death. There was one woman in particular that looked to be distraught over it. She is inside with the others, but…I can sense that something is indefinitely wrong. The others who were with her seem more upset now for some reason." Raine replied. The genetic tests had left her with the ability to sense the emotions from others if she so chose to use the power. Waves of sorrow were coming off of the humans who were in the house.

_This is not my house, but what do you mean that something is wrong? I would expect them to be upset, sure, but what are you talking about?_ Slendy answered. He did not wait for her to reply as he forced himself to his feet. It took a moment to regain his balance and stop the world from spinning. Death was something he would have to avoid in the future. It was quite annoying, this waiting for his senses to return back to normal. As the world came back into proper focus, he made his way to the back door of the house. He needed to know what was going on.

Raine slowly followed after him, allowing the feelings from the other humans to come to her. It seemed that one of the human's feelings had simply…disappeared. A cold realization came to the woman as she knew what this meant. She grabbed Slender's arm, making him pause just at the door way. She could only hope that she was wrong. "Were you close to any of these humans? Well, outside of Totheark. He didn't notice me, but I saw him. He sure grew up quickly."

_I was close to all of them. One acted as a friend, I guess you could say. The other, Totheark, acted the part of son. And…another became my wife,_ Slender replied, a little shy about revealing this to his old friend. Then again, the wedding band on his finger made it rather obvious as to what he had been up to. He wanted to get into the house to see what was wrong, but Raine blocked his way. He glowered down on her, trying to get her to move by sheer force of will.

"Slenderman, before you go in there-" Raine started, only to be cut off by him teleporting behind her. She sighed in annoyance. He was the same old Slendy. When he wanted something, he most certainly would get it.

While it pleased him that he could use his powers once again without having to deal with pain, his thoughts were more focused on the sobbing he could here coming from the kitchen. He could hear Anne's sobs. Totheark stood outside of the doorway to the kitchen, tear stains on his face. It seemed that the man could not bring himself to look at whatever was in the room behind him. Eventually, the normally-masked man's eyes looked up to find the blank face of Slenderman.

"What the hell?" he questioned, thinking that he had perhaps gone insane. He knew that Slender had died. None of them had been able to get a pulse on him. He had not been breathing. The body had been lifeless, soulless. Yet…here the man was. He slowly came forward to meet the man half way. He reached out a hand, needing to physically confirm what was standing in front of him. A tendril met his hand. Anger and happiness flew through his mind, both warring for control. The anger won the dominant position. "You were dead, you idiot. What…do you know what you've done?! You were dead, and now Ellaina…damn you!"

Totheark would have continued his rant had a tendril not wrapped around his mouth. This was not the reaction Slenderman had been expecting. _What are you talking about? _he still asked, slowly allowing the tendril to drop from the younger's mouth. He had made mention of Ellaina and Raine had said that something was wrong. Could there be something wrong with her? He certainly hoped not.

"Don't make me explain what happened," he replied softly. "Just…look into my memories and see for yourself what you've caused." The younger of the two opened his mind to the One before him, waiting to have that feeling of someone entering his mind. It came slowly, looking until it found the memory that was being searched for.

_Ellaina did not want to believe what had happened, but there was no denying it. Her Slenderman had tangled with Death and had lost. She was now heading inside, Anne and Totheark close behind her. The thought of living without the one she loved was unbearable. But then…did she have to live without him? There was more than one way to be with someone. She made her way to the kitchen, not saying a word to the others. They were confused by her actions to say the least. Neither knew what she had planned as she picked up a kitchen knife, so neither had the chance to stop her from…_

The memory was something that Slender wished he had never seen. Oh gods, no, this could not be happening. She could not have done this to herself. Her life could not end in such a way. This had to be some sort of cruel joke that Totheark had made into a memory or something. But…that made no sense whatsoever. Desperate fear came to him, and the need to get into the kitchen went up tenfold. He tried to push by the one he considered to be his son, only for Anne to get in the way.

The woman looked up into the familiar blank face, which was a pure white once again. Another sob escaped her, as she reached a hand out to find out if this was the first sign of insanity. Her hand was met with a tendril. Her eyes filled with realization and…anger. The normally cheerful woman growled at him before slapping him full across the face. "She thought you were dead and she didn't want to live without you! I made you promise that you'd never hurt her. She's gone and killed herself because-"

_No, _Slender interrupted her, the hopeless denial ringing clear in his voice. He pushed his way past the two, needing to prove them wrong. No one in this family died; both he and Ellaina were testimonials to that fact. He came into the kitchen and saw her form lying there, unmoving in a puddle of dark red blood. His breathing became sharp, emotions he could not entirely describe taking him over. He came to her side, falling to his knees at her side. Slowly, he brought his hand to the area in her neck that she had sliced into. The wound was deep, and the odds of being able to bring her back to the world of the living seemed impossible.

He pulled his hand away from her neck and instead rested it briefly on her stomach, trying to regain control over his emotions before he would try to heal her wound. This touch made him jump, though. There was…a small, dim life force inside of her. But this beacon of light…it was not entirely Ellaina. Part of it was her but another part seemed to be…him. What could that mean? He tried to think of what it could mean, and when the realization hit him of what it was, his world stood still. Had he eyes, they would be wide with disbelief. This did not seem possible. It could not be possible, yet the proof was inside of her. The proof was dying inside of her.

Slenderman knew that he had to bring her back; he just had to. He could not be responsible for her death and that of the light inside of her. He brought what should have been his lips to her ruined neck, trying to send the healing energy to her. He had never tried to revive a corpse, so he did not know if this was going to work. The wound did close itself after about ten minutes worth of effort, but her body did not move. Ellaina's body remained cold…lifeless.

_Please, wake up, _Slender whispered into her dead mind, not knowing if there would be some way for her to hear him or not. He brought nonexistent lips to hers, and still nothing happened even after some twenty minutes of trying. Desperation gripped him. She could not be gone from this world. He had come back to the land of mortals in order to be with her, to make her happy. He loved her. She could not just be dead. It was…it was not possible. _Ellaina, _he half sobbed into her mind, _I am here for you. I came back. Please…please wake up. I…I can't live without you. Ellaina…_

Raine slowly made her way into the kitchen, the feelings drifting from her old friend and into her mind. The sheer amount of sadness that she felt made tears come to her own eyes. It was so very clear that he loved her above everything else. She knelt beside him and very slowly pulled him away from the body of the woman. She sighed, looking from the dead woman and then back to where his eyes should have been. "Slender…she is gone."

_No. No, she cannot be. Raine, do something. Help her, _Slenderman answered, his voice tight with the pain of loss. He had thought he had lost her once. He could not lose her again. _Please, do something for her. I love her, Lorraine._

The woman knew he meant what he was saying, for he never used her full name unless he was being very serious. She wished there was something she could do, but there was nothing she could do that would bring the woman back. She knew much about the human body, but she could not bring someone back from Death. The truth was the best policy with him though. She replied, "There is nothing I can do, old friend. I wish there was something I could do."

Slenderman grabbed her shoulders, desperate beyond words. _No, that is not good enough. She cannot die. If she dies another will go with her._

"You would kill yourself?" Raine replied, alarmed.

_No, _Slender replied, his voice growing lifeless as he allowed the truth come to him. He took the woman's hand and brought it to Ellaina's stomach area. He allowed his power to transfer to her briefly so she could sense the light that was slowly dimming out inside of the body.

Her eyes went wide, and she pulled her hand quickly away. "Slendy…is she…?"

_Yes. Is there nothing we can do?_

Raine pulled out a syringe from her pocket. "The chemical…might shock her body awake."

_No, I would rather her be gone then suffer that torment. Please…just…leave me. Make sure that Totheark and Anne are alright. _He did not look at Raine as she left the room, he only laid his head onto Ellaina's stomach. He turned his attention to the light inside of the dead body. _Please, Tiny One, bring her back to us. Bring your Mommy back to the realm of the living._

A/N- I promise to update soon. Don't kill me. *Hands out cookies as a peace offering*


	32. Chapter 32

A/N- To live, or not to live, that is the question!

Everything was shrouded in darkness, but it was than just that. The darkness was a pure black, allowing for no sense of sight. Things could be heard though-screams of excruciating torment, of flesh being ripped, of bones beings snapped. These sounds put Ellaina on edge. She had no idea where she could be. The last thing she remembered was bringing the cold blade to her neck and then everything just went away. She woke up and she was here. But, was she awake or was this some sort of demented dream that she was having? She tried to look around, to get some idea of where she could be. The sound of fire erupting seemingly from nowhere in some unknown area made the woman jump slightly. The fire allowed for a brief glimpse of the area around her and of those who were still screaming in agony. Black caverns were everywhere, each holding humans captive, torturing them. She was in one of those same caverns. Realization hit her hard of where she was and utter terror consumed her soul…if she still had a soul, if it hadn't been taken yet. "Oh God, help me." Ellaina muttered.

A voice from the darkness began laughing in a psychotic way. _There is no God to help you here._

The woman spun around to face whoever it was that had said this even though the voice had only come into her mind. Still, all of the time she had spent with Slender had taught her well. She could easily pinpoint where someone was. Sadly, she wished that she did not have this ability.

Her eyes widened in horror at the sight she was met with. This being in front of her was not human in any sense of the word; then again she should not have expected to find any humans in charge in this place. People on earth thought that the Slenderman was terrifying, but this…this thing had the human frozen in place, unable to stop staring. The skin was yellow and paper thin, allowing for all of the blood vessels that ran through the face to be seen. There was no nose, only a gaping and rotting hole where one might have been at some point. The teeth were long and pointed and were always visible as the monster had no cheeks, only a grotesque smile carved into the flesh. But it was the eyes that most disturbed Ellaina. At one point they would be there, red orbs glaring into her soul. Yet, the eyes could simply be gone the next moment, leaving empty sockets behind. He was dressed in long, flowing black robes which hid the rest of his body.

_It would be so delish to rip you apart and feed you to the Hell Hounds or drop you into the Pit of Black Fire. Sadly, the Boss says I need to give you a chance to go home. Don't know why. He's never been one to follow what the Big Man says, _the creature stated, sounding human. The being seemed to shrug, what a human thing for a demon to do. _Orders are orders and you are the lucky winner._ He stepped aside and touched something unseen, the room becoming illuminated due to torches being around the perimeter of the interior of the cavern. There was a woman nailed to a cross revealed, and as the light reached her eyes she began to struggle against her restraints, despite the pain it caused her. When the woman's eyes landed on Ellaina her movement stopped. The demon began laughing as he circled around the tortured soul. He stopped in front of her, red eyes glaring up at her. _Meet your savior. _

"Savior?" Ellaina questioned, slowly coming to stand next to the demon to join him in looking on the woman. After a moment of observing the terrified-looking woman, Ellaina was hit hard once again with realization. This woman…she knew this woman. This woman had tried to kill her. This woman was the Slenderman's mother.

The demon turned his eyes onto the free human. How he wished he could simply torture this young one rather than give her the chance at her freedom. But he would not pay the price for going against orders. He explained, _You get this bitch down from the Cross before she dies and you get to go back to your own world. _At the very least he would get to inflict some pain on this stupid human before she got the chance to leave this domain. He was just not allowed to weaken her too much. How annoying that was.

"What will happen to her after I free her?" Ellaina questioned. The prospect of escaping this place was wonderful, but she still had to know what would happen. This woman had caused her Slender so much torment. The woman deserved to remain here to rot for all eternity.

The being smirked, picking up on her thoughts. _Careful, little Human. Let your soul become too dark and the Boss may just keep you here. He is quite fond of women like you._ He laughed at the horror he could feel coming off of the free human. He looked back at the one on the cross. _As for her if you free her, she will have the chance to escape along with you, but only one will get the chance to leave._ The humanity fell from his voice, turning to what it normally was. A cat of nine tails seemed to appear from nowhere in his hand. The end of the weapon held sharp, flaming daggers. He struck the one on the cross, eliciting a scream of torment from her. _You let her die, you die to_, the demon stated in a deathly tone as the weapon came onto the mother once again.

Ellaina did not really know what to do, but she figured that the least she could do was try to escape this place. Her friends had likely not taken well to her dying on them. And this place certainly was not where the Slenderman had been sent, it appeared. Staying here would not reunite her with him. With a determined look, the woman made her way forward, trying to think of the best way to free the other from the demon's clutches.

Slender had stayed by her side for some hours now. He did not want to accept that he had lost the one he loved, but he knew that denial was not healthy. But he could not bring himself to leave her, not until the little light faded from her. There had to be a reason why that light was still alive inside of her, was his reasoning. There had to be something that he could do in order to bring her back to the world of the living. Perhaps Raine was right. Maybe the chemical could shock her system back to the world of the living. The syringe of the material had been left behind by his old friend. Maybe…maybe it could work… He also had the vial that his mother had left behind. The shock theory could work. He was loath to try it though.

He picked up the forgotten syringe to look at it. Funny, how something so very simple could bring about such complete and utter destruction. And, if he were to try this theory that Raine had come up with, what would the effects be on Ellaina? He would never wish his curse onto even that of his mother. He did not know what to do, but the feeling of the little light growing weaker caught his attention. Slender knew that he had to make his decision and soon.

Slowly, he turned the one he loved over so her back was to him. He pulled up her shirt to expose the spine. He did not want to do this. He really did not want to do this. How could he even consider doing this to someone, much less someone that he loved? The feel of the light suddenly becoming a bit stronger made him pause. He did not know what to do.

So, going head on to try to save the woman was not an option. That was something that Ellaina had learned the hard way, for the whip had connected with her flesh several times before she was able to move away from the woman. The fire burned worse than the sting of the whip. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the fire changed to something of near black as it came to her. The burns across her flesh were terrible, but she would not give up so easily.

Ellaina noticed a ladder leaning against the far side of the cavern. Maybe she could use that to get to the back of the cross so she could release the woman that way? She ran and grabbed it then made her way back to the cross. Somehow, she managed to avoid the demon's cat of nine tails and get behind the cross. She propped the ladder against it and started to climb up it. A few steps up, sharp and long needles came jutting forth from the rungs. These needles, made of steel, stabbed clear through her hands as well as her feet. Ellaina bit her lip, though she internally screamed in agony. She was not about to give the demon the satisfaction of her pain. Instead, she continued her way up, pulling her hands and feet free and slicing them through the needles again. Would the pain never end? And, why was she having pain in her back?

The screams of the mother stopped suddenly and Ellaina heard the demon give an ever so slight gasp. She let herself drop down from the ladder to make her way to stand in front of the thing. The one she saw standing beside the demon, the cat of nines in his hand, made all color leave her body. Her blood stopped, freezing. Terror she could not even describe filled her. Slender's mother began screaming, allowing her fear to be known. The other, _the Boss, _turned his attention to the two women. A simple flick of his finger and the one on the cross was suddenly consumed in black flames. His attention then turned to the other human-the one he had to allow live.

Ellaina wanted to turn and run, but she found her legs moving of their own accord to that of the true Master of this place. She could not help but to allow fear to enter her eyes, though that pain in her back was becoming all the worse.

_You will be returning to the World of Mortals now, _the Boss stated as he willed the woman to stop in front of him. Her soul was filled with Light, and how he wished he could keep it here to corrupt it and destroy it. Still, that was not the option he had. In giving her up, he would be rewarded with a slew of new souls. It was a good exchange. He pulled the woman to him, making sure her body was close to his to be able to feel his raw power and strength. _You have no idea what you are in for._ Laughing, he forced his lips onto her, sending her to the human world once again. He turned away as the body disappeared and went to his own Gates, ready to personally greet the new arrivals.

The light had gone dangerously dim, so he had decided to go ahead with the theory. Slender had done the one thing he had sworn he would never do to another human-tamper with their genes. He had not expected anything to happen, but the little light had suddenly become very bright. It glowed with pure life. If the Tiny One was doing this well…

A scream came from the one who had been lying there. Her eyes snapped open. It was not just the pain in her back that made her scream, but from what had just been done to her. That kiss, the way she had been sent back here, had filled her with the terror of all of the trapped souls of that place. She forced herself to take deep breaths to force calmness back into her. Their terror was gone and this new pain was something she could very easily live with. Her focus on the real world finally came back to her, and she was met with…a blank face. Oh, this could not be real. She knew that the owner of this face had died. It was why she had…

_Ellaina, _Slenderman questioned, afraid that if he touched her she would leave this world again. He looked down on the syringe. He had only used what Raine had brought with her. He had decided to only use the vial if it was absolutely necessary. It was probably a god thing. What Raine used did not seem to cause any problems to happen, outside of pain. Slowly, he brought a hand up to touch her face, letting her know that he was indeed real and to assure himself that she was going to stay alive.

"You're alive," Ellaina stated, unable to keep the shock from her voice and the happiness. She ignored the pain, though it was quickly going away. She pulled him into her arms and allowed the terror of her experience to finally sink in. around sobs she demanded that Slendy never scare her like that again, for she would not be able to live without him. Still, she would never try to end herself again even if he did leave this world. The thought of returning to the Boss filled her with dread.

Slendy looked at her, holding her out at arm's length. _I will keep that promise, but I first must ask you something before I go along with the promise._

"And what would that be?" Ellaina questioned, trying to calm her emotions.

This seemed so strange to him to be doing. Wasn't it normally the woman who revealed this to her husband? The woman usually was the first to know such a thing. _What if I said…well, would you ever want to have children? _ He could only hope that her answer was yes. Subconsciously he placed his hand over the spot where the little light resided. It seemed to glow a bit brighter at his touch.

She was taken aback. What a time to talk about this, after the two of them had faced down Death and somehow lived. Still, the question set her to thinking. Did she want to have kids? It was not a topic that she often focused on. She did love little children, though. "Well, I guess I would want to have children, but do you think that I would make a good Mommy?"

_You will have to be, _Slendy replied softly, still focused on the light. He had helped to create this. It still did not seem at all possible to him.

"What do you mean?" Ellaina questioned, confused. He simply led her hand to the place his hand had been on her lower stomach area. She could feel some of his power come into her, and she could sense a small light inside of her. This light shocked her. Her senses suddenly heightened to be able to focus on the light, obviously Slendy's doing. This light seemed to be part her and…part of him. Both she and he were in this light. Her eyes went up to him, shocked. She did not notice that Anne, Totheark, and Raine had come into the room upon hearing her scream. The three had stayed back to allow Slender and his wife time together.

_The answer is very obvious as to what the light is. Ellaina…you're pregnant. _Slenderman replied, not sensing that the others were close enough to be able to hear him.

"Oh, my god!" Anne screamed in utter delight.

Totheark blinked a few times, before simply stating, "Way to go, Dad!"

Raine merely smiled, already knowing this.

Ellaina, overwhelmed by the whole thing, passed out.

A/N- You all should be happy now, right? I certainly hope so, but if you are not…live with it! And, you all did get what the light was from last chapter, right? If not, it was explained. Yay! *passes out cookies* Now, don't forget to share those cookies with Santa…and Slendy. And, forgive the mistakes; I was too lazy to proof read the whole thing.


	33. Chapter 33

A/N- This may be the last chapter of this story. If you want another Slendy Christmas story…well, let me know and I'll try to come up with another story line-though I do have an idea floating around in my head. And, I owe a big thanks to all of my lovely reviewers. You made the story possible. *hands out cookies and Slenderman plushies*

**9 months later, Christmas Eve**

"Can you remind me why I let you make us wait until Christmas Eve to decorate the tree?" she asked as she pulled the plastic tub of ornaments out from a closet. Ellaina turned to face him, who took the tub from her, saying that she should not be doing anything what with the condition she was in. The human rolled her eyes and laughed slightly. "I'm pregnant, not helpless," she stated, trying to get the tub back from him.

_I am not going to risk you going into labor over ornaments. Your doctor said no physical activity remember, _he replied, using a tendril to keep the object out of her reach. Seeing the annoyed look on her face from his actions, Slendy merely laughed. _You are quite adorable when you make that face. _The woman promptly stuck her tongue out at him. He only shook his head and continued into the family room. He really did not have a valid reason as to why he had made her wait on setting the tree up this year. Last year the thing had been put up at the beginning of December. Still, he could not believe that they had known one another for a year. He could not believe that she was pregnant. All of it still seemed impossible to him, but here was the proof before him-his very pregnant wife rooting through the tub to find something. She pulled out a rather familiar item-the star tree topper. _Not that thing again, _he commented, knowing that she would expect him to put it up. That memory was something which both annoyed him and made him laugh.

"Yes, this _thing _again, as you so nicely put it," Ellaina commented, smiling at him, despite the small stab of pain she felt run through her back. The woman merely wrote it off as the baby kicking or as Braxton hicks. Those terrible fake labor pains had been plaguing her as of late. To say that these pains annoyed her was an understatement. Ignoring the pain, she held the star out to him, knowing that he would put it up despite his protests. "I wonder if the gamers will like finding this scene once again. I'll have to make it a reoccurring Christmas theme."

_Wonderful, Ellaina, let's make a fool of your Cyber Slenderman, _he replied, making the joke ring clear in his voice. Ellaina had decided to continue on with the game, no matter what Slendy had said-which included everything from bribes to threats. These threats consisted of things such as refusing to give her attention. She said that life felt normal when the game was up and running, so he had went along with it as a way to make her happier. He had even helped on some of the notes. He took the star from her, not catching the pain that stung momentarily in her eyes. He was more focused on what she had tasked him with. Slender glared at the tree, his "old enemy." It really was not an "old enemy" as he had went into the woods and procured a new tree for the house.

Ellaina watched as he struggled to get the star to stay straight, remembering the first time he had done this. It was still odd to think that just a short year ago he had been promising to kill her. Now she was going to have his child. Fate clearly was an odd mistress, though Ellaina was not about to complain. Slender had been a perfect husband to her over these last nine months. That pain came back to her again, and she noticed that it seemed to be coming in intervals. Time would be her ally in determining if this was what she thought it was.

_This star refuses to stay on straight, _Slender complained as he watched said decoration become lopsided once again. _How did I make this thing stay straight last year?_ He looked to his wife, trying to see if she would provide any help. Seeing as she merely smiled at him, Slender sighed knowing that she was not about to offer her assistance. He tried to be gentle and put the thing neatly on top of the tree. The star only managed to nearly fall to the ground. Quick reflexes were the only thing that saved the topper from a demise of gravity.

"Slenderman, I think there is something else a little more pressing than the tree," Ellaina muttered when she realized that these pains were coming at a measured interval. She was not entirely ready for this, and she most certainly had not planned on having to go through this on Christmas Eve. She thought that this could have waited until after the holiday. It would have made her life so much easier. Of course, Fate had other plans.

_And what would that be? _Slenderman questioned, his attention still on the stupid star. He shoved the thing onto the tree with a grunt of effort. This, naturally, made it stay in place because everyone knows that violence is the answer to everything.

Ellaina sighed, trying to relax herself and not alarm Slendy. "Well, it's time."

_Time for what? _he questioned, as he went about looking into the tub to start pulling out the ornaments. He figured that the sooner he got the tree done, the sooner Ellaina would be able to lie down and relax. Her doctor said that she had to or she could go into labor, though she was due today. Still, no one ever properly predicted those things so he did not believe that it would happen anytime soon. Still, what could she mean by her statement? Was there a show on the television that she planned on making him watch? She had been set on making him watch various Christmas movies. His current favorite was _Home Alone_.

The wife of der Ritter sighed. "Did I ever mention that you really need to learn the clichés of this world?" Ellaina shook her head as he muttered something about her mentioning it once or twice. Seeing as he still did not understand what she meant, she pulled him over to the couch where the laptop had been left. She turned it on and pulled up the Internet, immediately going to Google. She typed in the cliché and made him read the meaning of it.

_Wait a minute. Wait. No, you are not having the baby now. I am not ready for this, _Slender stated, looking from the laptop and back to his wife. _I forbid this. _He pointed a finger to her belly, as if the baby would be able to see and understand him. _You stay in there._

"_You _aren't ready for this?" Ellaina questioned, eyes going wide. "I'm the one that is about to push something the size of a-"

_Do not finish that sentence, _he ordered. Anne had been telling him all about the birthing process in great detail. She had told him each and every little thing that happens when a woman went into labor. It was these facts which had made him decide not to be in the room. No, he was going to let Totheark stay with his wife. This had already been planned, as Anne would need to stay home with the baby; she had had a little boy about two weeks earlier. Slendy had also been given the title of "Gampa", and no amount of protest had been able to convince the two of changing the title.

Ellaina snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Why are you stuck in your world of thought at a time like this? We need to get going because I am not birthing a baby on this couch!"

They went to the hospital without further ado.

Slenderman sat in the waiting room, unaware of how many hours had passed since they had first arrived at the hospital. All he knew was that he was rather nervous and he was quite hot what with the disguise he was made to wear. He had to wonder what was going on in the room, as no one had come in to inform him on the condition of his wife.

He looked around the room once again. He had been doing this since a nurse had first brought him here. There was really nothing that stood out. The walls were a plain white and the chairs were an ugly shade of red. Still, there were a few Christmas decorations up to make the place look a bit more festive. And speaking of said holiday, the clock had just struck twelve. It was officially Christmas, and his poor wife was still suffering her way through what must be an intense labor.

There had been other men waiting in this room, but they had been called in one by one. Some had come in long after Ellaina had gone in and had already gone in to see their new babies. Slender had to wonder if something could be wrong. Still, he would not allow himself to think that way. It seemed like after all of the things Ellaina had gone through that labor would not be that difficult. It certainly would not be able to kill her. Then again, some women did die from this… No, he forced the statistics out of his mind. His Little One would not die. She would make him a daddy.

That thought brought an internal smile to his face. When he saw the doctor come out that had brought Ellaina back, he got to his feet. Slender was prepared to go and see his wife and his new child. The thought that he was about to see the creation of his and his wife's love filled him with an emotion that he did not know. It was joy, but it was more than that. Something seemed off, though, as he approached the doctor. The man would not look at him in the face.

The man, the doctor, showed no emotion as he finally brought his eyes up to the area where the eyes of der Ritter should have been. Medical school had taught the man how to break bad news in a way that was easiest. Still, it was not something that he enjoyed doing. He had chosen this specialty as a means to bring life _into _the world. These sorts of things did happen though. One life had been lost in this case and one had been made.

Slender looked away from the doctor. Bad news. The man had bad news for him, and he would need to be able to keep his cool. There could be no showing what he was in this place. It would be too dangerous for Ellaina. The baby had to have been lost. That's why the man had to be upset. _I am to assume that my wife is quite upset over this May I see her? _

The doctor did not even realize the voice was in his mind, as he was more focused on what he had to tell the man in front of him. "Sir, the baby is healthy. The labor was…rather long and intensive. The medical team did everything we could, but your wife-"

Ellaina. The bad news was about his Little One. A cold dread filled his body, and he looked at the doctor, not caring if his disguise would slip. He interrupted, _My wife? What has happened to her?_

The doctor sighed once more. They said that a doctor was supposed to be emotionally detached from his patients, but he was young and had yet to learn to do such a thing. And the emotion that he heard in the husband's voice was like a barb to his own heart. Still, this had to be done. The doctor then straightened himself, pulling himself to his full height. Compared to the husband of the woman, he was still rather short. This had to be professionally.

"I am so sorry…"

To be continued…

A/N- I am evil for ending this in this way, aren't I? Please, do not hate me too much for this. I do have an idea for another installment to this story, and it will be posted if you want it. Let me know. :) And I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season full of joy and happiness.


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